Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Navigant Enhances Anti-Money Laundering and Financial Services Compliance and Investigations Offering

Navigant has announced the enhancement of its Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Compliance and Investigations offering with the addition of Alba Avila Quintana and Patrick J. McArdle who join the firm as Directors in New York. These two professionals, along with Alma Angotti, also a New York based Director, enhance the team with a wealth of federal and local level enforcement experience and strengthen the firm's capabilities in the areas of anti-money laundering (AML), anti-bribery and other regulatory matters.

"With the expanded efforts around financial regulatory oversight and compliance, Alba, Pat and Alma create a team of professionals that will be critical for our financial services clients," states Ellen Zimiles, Managing Director and leader of Navigant's Global Investigations & Compliance practice. "They will leverage their extensive regulatory experience to provide valuable insights to clients as they grapple with investigations, policy, training and compliance challenges."

Enhanced Credentials

Alba Avila Quintana joins Navigant from the National Securities Commission of Argentina (CNV), where she has served as the Deputy Director for International Affairs and the Deputy Director for Anti-Money Laundering. At the CNV, Avila Quintana managed the oversight and enforcement of AML laws and regulations, conducting AML examinations of agents, broker-dealers and all other securities market participants. In addition, she participated in Argentina's Financial Action Task Force (FATF) evaluation process. As part of her role with the CNV, Avila Quintana served as the principal liaison between the CNV and the IMF, OECD, IOSCO, World Bank and other securities commissions globally.

Patrick J. McArdle has more than twenty years of experience in regulatory compliance, consulting, and law enforcement, specializing in fraud prevention, AML and forensic accounting investigations. Prior to joining Navigant, McArdle was a Senior Special Investigator for Enforcement at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. In this capacity, he conducted highly sensitive and complex specialized investigations involving violations of bank regulations, illegal activities and suspicious transactions. McArdle has led numerous fraud investigations, including financial statement fraud, embezzlements, inventory and receivable manipulations, bid rigging and kickback arrangements. He has also acted as a monitor for companies and unions in industries plagued by organized crime.

With 25 years of regulatory experience, Alma Angotti has the distinction of holding senior enforcement positions at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), U.S. Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). At FINRA, Ms. Angotti had primary responsibility for AML policy and enforcement of the Bank Secrecy Act as well as FINRA and SEC AML rules. She designed, implemented and led FinCEN's Bank Secrecy Act enforcement program. She also drafted proposed and final AML regulations for securities broker-dealers, hedge funds and investment advisors. Angotti has advised non-U.S. governments on AML issues, served as a FINRA representative on several inter-agency AML groups, and had responsibility for other program areas at FINRA, including municipal securities, fixed income, supervisory controls compliance and research analyst matters. As Senior Special Counsel in the SEC's Division of Enforcement, Ms. Angotti investigated, prosecuted, and served as a policy adviser for a variety of civil enforcement actions, including insider trading, financial fraud, micro-cap fraud, accounting fraud and Ponzi schemes.

Angotti, Avila Quintana and McArdle join Navigant's AML leadership team, led by Ellen Zimiles and Salvatore LaScala. The broader Navigant AML team is comprised of former law enforcement officials, prosecutors and regulators, as well as seasoned litigation support professionals and industry experts who work on global investigations and compliance matters for the world's largest and most respected companies.

About Navigant's Global Investigations & Compliance Practice

Navigant's Global Investigations & Compliance practice brings critical expertise and resources to clients to assist them with identifying, assessing and managing the compliance and business risks related to financial economic crimes, money laundering, sanctions, bribery and corruption matters, investigative due diligence, FATCA, monitoring and investigations related to fraud, waste and abuse.

About Navigant

Navigant is a specialized, global expert services firm dedicated to assisting clients in creating and protecting value in the face of critical business risks and opportunities. Through senior level engagement with clients, Navigant professionals combine technical expertise in Disputes and Investigations, Economics, Financial Advisory and Management Consulting, with business pragmatism in the highly regulated Construction, Energy, Financial Services and Healthcare industries to support clients in addressing their most critical business needs.

More information about Navigant can be found at www.navigant.com.

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