Brian J. Stoeckert, CAMS, CFE
Co-Chair
Booz Allen Hamilton

Brian is a recognized expert by the The Wall Street Journal in financial crimes and currency exchange. He specializes in convergent risk management, financial intelligence in anti-money laundering, fraud, terrorist financing, cyber analytics, and data leakage for commercial and government clients. Brian co-authored the first publication to assess the compliance and financial crimes risks of bond swaps known as “permutas” using offshore jurisdictions in parallel markets. Since publication, the U.S. has issued indictments in two separate high-profile money laundering cases, which allege the parallel market was used to launder narcotics proceeds.

Brian previously served as Vice President for OneWest Bank, a $27 billion private equity owned Southern California bank, where he developed the enterprise-wide BSA/AML/Fraud program. Moreover, as a member of OneWest’s Enterprise Risk Committee, he managed the integration of three failed financial institutions OneWest purchased from the FDIC.

He serves as the Chair of the ACAMS Chapter Steering Committee and is an Executive Board member of the ACAMS Northern California Chapter. Prior to relocating to San Francisco, Brian served as a founding Executive Board member of the ACAMS Southern California Chapter. He is a speaker and instructor at international and regional financial crimes conferences and training sessions. Brian has presented on the financial crimes risks of mergers and acquisitions, mortgage loan fraud, permutas, foreign currency exchange, money service businesses, enhanced AML techniques, and the Pop Culture Project, a unique training method that blends social media, visual imagery, and digested case studies.

He received his Juris Doctor from New York Law School and his Bachelor of Arts from Stony Brook University. He is a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS).

e-mail: Stoeckert_Brian@bah.com

Lisa Lechner, CAMS
Co-Chair

Lisa has over 6 years of experience in compliance having worked with PayPal. She is CAMS (Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist). Lisa received her J.D. from the University Of Nebraska College of Law and has B.S. degrees in Political Science & Psychology from Nebraska Wesleyan University.

e-mail: lklechner@paypal.com

Erin Balabanian
Secretary
Google

Erin is currently a compliance analyst, working for Google Checkout. Erin joined Google Checkout in 2009 and is currently tasked with global AML, Sanctions, and KYC programs, Data Security, and Compliance Training. Prior to joining Google, Erin worked as the SAR manager and compliance trainer for a subsidiary of Bank of America, previously a subsidiary of Merrill Lynch for 5 years, where she was responsible for, among other things, creating a SAR program, training on and developing a program for BSA compliance, managing the OFAC program, being the liaison with law enforcement, and handling consumer complaints. Erin earned her MBA at San Jose State and her Bachelor Degree in Music and Politics from the University of California at Santa Cruz.

e-mail: ebalabanian@google.com

Elaine A. Laye, CAMS
Co-Secretary
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

Elaine is a Counsel/Senior Litigator in the San Francisco Regional Office and provides legal support to the Division of Supervision and Consumer Protection on compliance and enforcement matters. She began her legal career at the Securities and Exchange Commission, Washington, D.C., in the Corporation Finance Division. After leaving the SEC, she was hired as a Senior Attorney in the Corporate and Securities Division of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, Washington, D.C.

In 1989, Elaine joined the FDIC’s Legal Division as a bank closing attorney in the Western Service Center in Irvine, California. In that position, she handled a variety of issues for the Division of Resolutions and Receiverships and served as Counsel-Section Chief of the Real Estate Transactional Section. In 1998, Elaine began working in the San Francisco Regional Office as an open bank attorney.

Elaine is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and received her law degree from Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California in Berkeley, California. In addition to her banking and regulatory background, Elaine has also served as an FDIC instructor for Advanced Negotiations and Alternate Dispute Resolution courses. She is considered a subject matter expert on Bank Secrecy Act regulations and is a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (ACAMS). She has conducted several presentations for DSC on enforcement actions and other regulatory issues.

e-mail: ELaye@FDIC.gov

Jenner Balagot, CAMS
Communications Director
Union Bank

Jenner is a Certified Anti-Money Laundering professional and has been involved in BSA/AML matters for over seven years. Currently, he belongs to the Financial Intelligence Unit and manages the CTR and OFAC program. Previously, he worked at Wells Fargo Bank, where he helped build the Identify Program. His introduction to the BSA/AML world occurred during an internship with the U.S. State Department, in Manila, Philippines, where he worked with the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and other foreign governments.

He has a Bachelor of Science degree, in Information Systems Management, from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is also a member of the World Affairs Council, San Francisco Chapter.

e-mail: Jenner.Balagot@unionbank.com

Robert "Bob" Kenny
Membership Director
FinCEN

Bob is a Senior Intelligence Research Specialist with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), and has been with FinCEN since May 2004 working as a liaison for FinCEN in the Northern California Region and as the FinCEN Representative to the San Francisco High Intensity Financial Crimes Area (HIFCA) Task Force, where his primary duties involve conducting analytic work in support of financial investigations and providing liaison assistance to law enforcement agencies in the Northern California area on FinCEN related issues. Prior to his assignment with FinCEN, Bob spent over fourteen years with the Department of Defense as a Supervisory Intelligence Research Specialist, senior analyst, and operations officer in California, working in support of law enforcement and intelligence community efforts related to criminal investigations and operations. In addition to his role in the Northern California Chapter of ACAMS, Bob is a member of the International Association of Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysts, and received his certification as a Criminal Analyst in 1999 to become a member of the International Society of Certified Criminal Analysts (SCCA).

e-mail: bken01@comcast.net

Perla Ortiz, CAMS
Programming Director
Commonwealth Foreign Exchange

Perla serves as Chief Compliance Officer at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange, a market-leading foreign exchange services firm focused on facilitating currency exchange on behalf of domestic and international corporations. She manages the BSA/AML and OFAC programs and institutes internal controls to ensure compliance with the National Futures Association. Perla is responsible for the development and implementation of the proprietary compliance risk and transaction monitoring software.

Previously, she served as Vice President and BSA Officer for Merchants Bank of California, N.A., where she managed the BSA/AML program for the multi-national retail bank and its Unigram money transmitter service that provides transfers to Mexico and Central and South America. Prior to joining Merchants Bank, Perla was an Education and Training Specialist for ACAMS. She was responsible for the development and planning of anti-money laundering conferences and seminars and conducted marketing studies to promote the growth of ACAMS. Perla received her Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering and a Minor in International Relations from the Georgia Institute of Technology. She is a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist and a member of the ACAMS Annual Conference Task Force. Perla is an executive board member of the ACAMS Northern California Chapter and also serves on the Northern California HIFCA Banking Roundtable.

e-mail: portiz@comfex.com