John R Pepe Sr.
Senior Consultant

John R Pepe Sr. is a Senior Consultant with Bekker Compliance Consulting Partners, LLC (BCCP) and, under written contract with BCCP, provides regulatory compliance consulting services to BCCP’s financial services clientele.

PROFFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

CONSULTING
Advisor to Senior Brokerage Executives:

  • Operational procedures regarding sales, trading, P & L positions, trade reconciliations and compliance related issues;
  • Initiating small Fixed Income Desks to compliment various Equity Divisions;
  • Training of equity personnel in sales of restructured equity and fixed-income products;
  • Assisting Corporate Finance personnel on mezzanine financing proposals;
  • Instruction and assistance of brokerage personnel with venture capital private placement underwriting procedures;
  • Streamlining of internal procedures for efficiency in operations.

    • OPERATIONS

  • Creation, implementation and management of fixed income trading / sales operations, with personnel placement;
  • Evaluation of low-grade securities;
  • Advisor for the market-making positioning of equities and corporate debt related to the Distressed / Bankrupt division of High- Yield;
  • Advisor to institutional and corporate clientele relating to restructuring scenarios;
  • Distressed securities sales to institutional, corporate and proprietary broker-dealer accounts; seven-figure commissions generated;
  • Solicitation of bids and offerings from institutional and broker-dealer accounts;
  • Assistance to High Yield personnel with institutional account recruitment and coverage;
  • Investment Management interaction;
  • Coordination of various trading / sales desks to increase production;
  • Development of sector groups to specialize in various investment subdivisions;
  • Implementation of new strategies to improve efficiency and account coverage;
  • Advisor to trading managers on P / L positioning and trade reconciliation;
  • Monitoring the risk values of the firm’s proprietary trading account;
  • Development of fixed income products for retail and institutional sales forces;
  • Formulation of efficiency techniques for existing operations.

    • SPECIALIZATION AREA

    High Yield and Distressed Securities

  • Restructuring;
  • Takeovers;
  • Vulture investing;
  • Research evaluations;
  • Trading / sales of related securities;
  • Advisor to institutional investors and corporations.

    • General Overview-Restructuring Evaluations

  • Lead professional associates and analysts in performance of due diligence, financial models, credit feasibility studies and sensitivity analysis for domestic and cross border transactions;
  • Experience executing public and private debt issuances and related investment banking services;
  • Evaluating and recommending alternative capital structures;
  • Providing legal analysis and evaluation of credit documentation, through specialized attorneys, with exposure to negotiating capital commitment documents;
  • Presentation of due diligence conclusions and analysis to senior bankers and to Credit Risk Management committees.

    • Initial Personnel

  • Distressed Equity Analyst-experience includes Goldman Sachs and Steinhardt Partners-who will also provide private capital deals;
  • Distressed Fixed Income Analysts;
    • Experienced Professional-Led investment team at County National Westmisister Bank investing in special situations-$500,000,000 position;
    • Seasoned Professional-currently providing analytical services to Argus Research.

    Trading Partners

  • Institutional Accounts;
  • Specialized Broker / Dealers;
  • Broker’s Brokers.

    • Outside Group

    Provides Corporate Finance special situations with emphasis on corporate restructuring and ‘takeovers’. Internal structure includes a network of executive personnel with access to seed money and bridge loan financing.

    Legal Documentation

  • Publically disseminated research report-Chapter 7 company-authored;
  • Regulation D 506 Private Placement Memorandum-co-authored.

    • Secondary Markets

  • Recommendation of a provider of general clearance functions with emphasis on trade guarantees;
  • Creation of a trading operation to execute trades in the OTC and listed markets;
  • Recruitment of specialized sales forces to provide daily income in public and private markets. Fixed income size ranges from $1MM to approximately $20MM and higher;
  • Coverage of institutional accounts.

    • Client Interaction

  • Broker / Dealer;
  • Corporations;
  • Hedge Funds;
  • Insurance Companies;
  • Mutual Funds.

    • Restructuring Advisor

  • Analysts’.
  • Bondholder and Equity Committees;
  • Distressed / Bankrupt Corporations;
  • Institutional Traders and Investors.

    • COMPLIANCE

  • Supervisory 24 for Fixed Income, Equity, Emerging Markets, Private Placements and Corporate Finance.
  • Review and approval of correspondence, advertising, underwriting and research materials.
  • Monitoring of transactions and trade blotters.
  • Employee trading requirements.
  • Supervised training of various investment advisors in proper selling techniques, regulatory requirements and internal compliance procedures.
  • Investigation of exception reports, trade problems and customer complaints.
  • Centralized distribution of information for retail and institutional clientele.
  • Qualifying of new and existing accounts.
  • Verification of new and validation of changes in account information.
  • Tape recording of presentation and transactional conversations.
  • Development of presentations for the retail and institutional sales force.
  • Editing and updating of compliance manuals and written supervisory procedures.
  • Strong interaction with regulatory agencies, legal staff and senior management to resolve complex compliance issues. Coordinating responses to requests and examinations by FINRA auditors. Regulatory audits resulted in no reportable violations.
  • Implementation of firm-wide AML procedures.
  • Formation of compliance teams to address sector compliance issues.
  • FINRA Industry Arbitrator.

    Assisted the Chief Compliance Officer with:

  • U4; U-5 documents.
  • Editing and updating of the firm’s compliance manual and written supervisory procedures.
  • Firm element requirements.
  • Annual compliance review of registered personnel.

    Regulatory Reporting Criteria -3012

  • ACT
  • TRACE
  • MSRB
  • OATS / OTS
  • Section 31 Fees
  • Short Interest Reporting (Weekly and Monthly)
  • INSITE

    • PROJECT MANAGEMENT

  • Created a functional brokerage branch office from inception including compliance requirements and vendor interaction;
  • Initiated a Corporate Finance Department and retained its first client. Presented the brokerage firm as the sole underwriter to local officials of a major U.S. city;
  • Evaluation of a major Broker / Dealer’s compliance status with its 3012 requirements;

    • Other Projects-Team Member

  • Coordinated a money-market firm’s expansion into the securities business;
  • In conjunction with the Firm’s CCO, applied to and received NASD approval to amend a firm’s restriction letter;
  • Member of a project team regarding the sale of an internally developed system to outside investors;
  • Led a project team which applied for and received approval of the firm as an associate member of the American Stock Exchange;
  • Assisted senior management in the purchase of a major brokerage house.

    • SYNOPSIS

    20+ Years-Project Manager

  • Initiating new institutional trading and sales operations;
  • Constructing compliance and operational procedures for newly created departments;
  • Hiring of all personnel for newly created divisions;
  • Reconfiguration of internal logistics.

    • Projects Completed
    2006-2007-Wachovia Securities

  • Project Manager and Compliance Subject Matter Expert for the firm’s 3012 requirements regarding trade reporting.

    • 2005-Seaboard Securities

  • Team member for the creation of a new institutional trading and sales desk.

    • 2003-2004-Peconic Securities

  • Proprietary equity investor for the firm;
  • New account development.

    • 2000-2002-M.H. Meyerson

  • Advisor to the Chairman of the Board regarding equity market-making compliance issues;
  • Risk management in distressed securities;
  • Wrote and publicly published a fixed income investment report of a Chapter 7 company;
  • Developed restructuring scenarios for a NASDAQ listed company of their publicly traded preferred securities.

    • 1999-Thomas F. White & Co.-Project Manager

  • Construction of an east coast branch office;
  • Leasing of office space with terms;
  • Purchasing of all necessary equipment;
  • Branch Manager;
  • Interim compliance supervisor of the entire east coat retail sales force.

    • 1996-Tradition Government Securities

  • Creation of a new institutional trading and sales operation;
  • Supervisory 24 for Equities, Corporate Bonds, Private Placements and Corporate Finance;
  • In conjunction with the Firm’s CCO, applied to and received FINRA approval to amend this firm’s restriction letter;
  • Instituted a new Corporate Finance Department and retrained the company’s first client;
  • Drafted the description of securities for a Regulation D-506 Private Placement Memorandum and completed the underwriting compliance necessary for regulatory approval. Led the presentation of this new project to a major city’s public officials;
  • Assisted Corporate Finance personnel on mezzanine financing proposals.

    • 1990-1995-Consultant-Project Management

  • Creation of various trading and sales operations, including compliance and logistical configuration to compliment existing operations.

    • 1987-1988-Fahnestock-Project Manager

  • Creation of new institutional trading and sales operations;
  • Assisted senior management with the purchase of Fahnestock and Company.

    • 1985-1987-Cantor Fitzgerald-Project Manager

  • Creation of a new institutional trading and sales operation;
  • Led a project team which applied for and received approval of the firm as an associate member of the American Stock Exchange;
  • Team member participating in the sale of their proprietary Telerate System to outside investors with terms.

    • ACCOMPLISHMENTS

  • Developed and managed new corporate bond divisions;
  • Generated production with annual gross commissions in excess of $2,500,000;
  • Increased trading desk personnel from two to fourteen and quadrupled the firm’s account base in approximately one year;
  • Consolidated trading desks thus increasing profitability approximately threefold;
  • Wrote and publicly published a fixed income investment report of a Chapter 7 company, among others;
  • Developed restructuring scenarios for a NASDAQ listed company of their publicly traded preferred securities;
  • Created a Corporate Finance Department and drafted the description of securities for a Regulation D-506 Private Placement Memorandum. Completed all the necessary compliance requirements for this venture;
  • Established controls that reduced the amount of errant trades;
  • Elimination of erroneous proprietary trading positions through qualified research;
  • Initiation of brokerage compliance procedures needed to avoid arbitration claims.

    • LICENSES / CERTIFICATIONS:

    Series 7, 24, 63, CAMS

    SUMMARY OF EXPERTISE

  • High Yield and Distressed Securities;
  • Creation and supervision of Broker / Dealer sales and trading operations;
  • Securities Compliance-Retail and Institutional;
  • Institutional & dealer sales-debt and distressed equity;
  • Project Management;
  • NASD Industry Arbitrator.

    • SKILLS

  • Creation and supervision of institutional High Yield Broker / Dealer Sales and Trading Operations;
  • Development of restructuring scenarios in conjunction with senior analysts’ evaluations;
  • Expert presentations of venture and going-concern financing to institutional accounts;
  • Formation of various procedural scenarios for traders and investment advisors;
  • Monitoring of transactions and correspondence.

    • EDUCATION

    New York University.