MONITA SHARMA
South San Francisco, CA 94080
Phone:
SUMMARY
• Lead Policy Implementation team in Governance Oversight & Administration. • Knowledge of BSA/AML laws and regulations relative to various white-collar crimes, general fraud, and money laundering.
• More than 15 years of investigative experience with a specific emphasis on AML and BSA at a financial institution. • General understanding of bank’s products and services and how they may be exploited for suspicious activities. • Proficient with various third-party data providers, internet resources, bank applications, and automated systems used to monitor transaction activity, such as deposits, wires, cash, and monetary instrument sales, and Know Your Client (KYC) profiles, to conduct and complete research and analysis of the alerting activity. Expertly use a pivot table for funds flow analysis in identifying any significant fluctuations in the account activity. • Excellent communication skills, both written and oral, excellent analytical and organizational abilities have proficiency in the use of personal computer applications, including but not limited to the use of the internet resources, commonly utilizes business software in a Windows Operating System (OS) environment. • Experience in using special programs like case management system, SAS, Actimize, ECM, Jira, i2, CRMS, P3, PIM, PGP, Cornerstone, and WCIS as well as customized databases. • Experience in completing bank’s various high-priority projects. • Effectively manage responsibilities assigned with minimum supervision and successfully achieved targeted timelines.
EDUCATION
University of the South Pacific Fiji Islands
December 2001 Bachelor of Arts with double majors in Accounting & Financial Management and Banking & Finance
EXPERIENCE
Wells Fargo Bank
November 2019 – Present Business Risk & Control Manager/Lead Strategic Execution Consultant San Francisco, CA • Provide managerial advisory from a governance and oversight perspective to policy owners, stakeholders, and businesses for financial crimes-related policy implementation.
• Responsible for the application of financial crimes risk policies, specifically implementation plans and exemptions or exceptions for businesses.
• Subject matter expert when it comes to consultation of escalated matters from Financial Crimes Risk Management such as exemption/exception rejections or policy violations. • As a leader, takes a “risk-first” approach with all assignments and leads the team by guiding them on the importance of risk management.
• Detailed-oriented and takes risk management very seriously, escalate issues but also brings forward solutions for consideration.
• Always prepared to step outside the area of responsibility and comfort zone to help and help guide others for risk awareness.
• Perform research on high-priority items such as politically exposed person (PEP) population under a strict timeline. • Perform gap analysis on existing BSA Compliance policies and procedures to evaluate current practice against written policies and procedures to ensure consistency with regulatory requirements. • Ensure policy exemption or exceptions are articulated appropriately with detailed justification and/or detailed alternative approach is provided for approval.
• Ensure financial crimes-related procedures follow the corporate policies and includes all the requirements before it moves forward for the second line of defenses approval.
• Streamline review process of exemption/exception and/or procedures to achieve effectiveness and efficiencies. • Provide guidance and constructive feedback to resolve issues and concerns to the team, coaching when needed. This is documented to support key performance indicator metrics to channel back to line management to effectively manage the qualitative aspects of team members’ performance as well as identify trends that may require coordinated efforts with training and coaching.
• Execute any/all ad-hoc requests from Governance and Oversight Management/Leadership. • Provide support to BSA-related programs and high-priority actions to address issues and ensure ongoing regulatory compliance.
• Take on high-pressure responsibilities related to multiple high-priority actions related to PEP, cash vault, CDD assigned
MONITA SHARMA
South San Francisco, CA 94080
Phone:
Email:
to the governance team with respect to the designated financial crimes leader reviews, creating a template for use by the businesses and program when requesting exceptions.
• Lead the team through brand new activities brought on at a moment’s notice, with timely execution and quality. • Positive attitude, confidence, and ability enable to calmly and professionally manage or analyze situations, resolve issues, build healthy relationships with team members, partners, policy owners, and stakeholders.
June 2019 – October 2019 Operational Risk Consultant 5 - Assist. Vice President San Francisco, CA • Develop, implement, and maintain internal governance processes, including streamlining approval and review processes, designing and standardizing documentation requirements, and escalation protocols. • Support Governance while interacting with senior leadership and major stakeholders. • Participate in creating action plans for developing and administering internal processes. • Develop, administer, and maintain governance procedures ensuring alignment to policy. • Participate in defining requirements and executing internal governance processes. • Participate in designing documentation structures and templates, documenting materials for leadership. • Participate in organizing and managing any/all ad-hoc requests from leadership. • Participate in designing internal team member assessment protocols, leveraging relevant experience. • Executing routines with impacted stakeholders inclusive of members of the internal team. • Collaborating with partners to develop business cases to influence Governance Leadership on the need for controls to mitigate risk.
• Ensure that issues, results, and corresponding actions as needed are entered in the newly developed systems of record. • Responsible for program documentation and change management controls. • Evaluate the adequacy and effectiveness of processes as the program matures.
March 2016 – May 2019 Compliance and Financial Crimes Consultant – Assist. Vice President San Francisco, CA • Function as a Line of Business Risk Coverage Officer ensuring that product due diligence review for cash vault is conducted prior to its implementation.
• Ensure that BSA/AML risks and their mitigations, have been documented and risks to the bank are acceptable. • Performed quality control (QC) reviews to ensure the effectiveness of the business line processes and adherence to the bank’s financial crime compliance and customer due diligence standards. • Perform QC reviews with respect to Customer Identification Process (CIP)/Customer Due Diligence (CDD)/ Customer Risk Ratings during onboarding of Global Banking customers. • Perform QC reviews on Outside United States (OUS) onboarding cases. • Ensure accuracy of processes/procedures and documentation. • Develop, maintain, and deploy necessary training based on business line impacts resulting from the news standards. • Participate and provide guidance to a business line on KYC/CDD/CIP processes. • Identify and report QC findings and control gaps/deficiencies to Financial Crimes Compliance management. • Perform QC reviews on BSA/AML high-priority projects: CDD Data, OUS cases, and Cash Vault Product Due Diligence • Work with the business to determine the root cause of identified issues and recommend resolutions. • Maintain all QC documentation in conformance with bank policies.
First Republic Bank
July 2014 – February 2016 BSA/AML Quality Assurance Specialist San Francisco, CA • Conduct meticulous supervisory reviews of financial intelligence work products such as Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs), Investigative Summaries, and Assessment Summaries ensuring that all financial intelligence products contain accurate information and analysis.
• Conduct narrative and technical reviews of SARs produced by Investigators prior to submission to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
• Function as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) regarding technical requirements for SARs that have been set forth by FinCEN and the supervisory banking agencies.
• Capture key performance indicator (KPI) metrics to channel back to line management to effectively manage the qualitative aspects of employee performance as well as identify trends that may require coordinated efforts with the AML Training Coordinator and Investigative Operations Director.
MONITA SHARMA
South San Francisco, CA 94080
Phone:
Email:
Union Bank
April 2011 – July 2014 AML Surveillance Agent – Special Risk Client Unit Oakland, CA • Understand the objective of the Special Risk Clients (SRC), but not limited to money service businesses (MSBs), thirdparty payment processors (TPPP), casinos, border-branch clients, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Affidavit clients, consulates, embassies, and PEP and identify risk associated with each client from an account, transactional and relationship perspective.
• Understand the products and services provided to high-profile clients and assess its associated risks. • Take an initiative-taking role in the management of the clients by performing reviews on a semi-annual basis and actively recommending promotions and demotions based on the risk criteria and monitoring of risk exposure. • Ability to support the bank’s compliance programs, knowledgeable of and ensure compliance with laws and regulations, protect the privacy of the client information and other sensitive bank information, and identify and manage risk related to the BSA.
• Research and evaluate AML alerts, research, and write case investigation, conduct quality assurance activities, and conduct ongoing monitoring of the bank’s clients as well as recommend control types based on the evaluation of risk. Third-party, UB automated, and manual systems are utilized for these tasks to ensure any possible suspicious activity is identified and the necessary actions are taken to ensure the bank performs its duties related to the BSA. • A review activity of high-risk clients to determine if the activity is usual or warrants further review and/or the completion of comprehensive investigations of the alerting activities. Reviews include increasingly complex personal and business client relationships, account activity, and watch list matches. Additionally, complete quality assurance tasks related to the filing of SARs and other relevant documentation related to non-filing decisions. • Assist managers in monitoring and referral with basic duties including alert assignment, alert review, and staff training.
December 2006- March 2011 Senior Financial Investigator – Investigations Unit San Francisco, CA • Research and evaluate AML risk transaction activity alerts for all areas, such as wires, cash structuring, and automated system alerts, and determine if an investigative referral is recommended. • Complete alerts and monitoring assignments within documented timeframes and in accordance with quality standards for completion and documentation.
• Conduct AML investigations to determine whether to file a SAR within reasonable timeframes and in accordance with the bank’s financial intelligence policy and procedures.
• Perform quality control duties on AML No SAR investigations to determine if case files have been completed in accordance with the FIU policy and procedures.
• Conduct funds flow analysis by use of pivot tables and graphs.
September 2006- November 2006 Analyst San Francisco, CA • Analyze internal monitoring alerts and refer unusual account activities to an internal investigation unit.
January 2006- August 2006 Loss Prevention Specialist San Francisco, CA • Conduct enhanced due diligence on high-risk-based Money Service Business (MSB) clients such as licensed check cashers, licensed money transmitters, and agents of Western Union, MoneyGram, and Continental Express.
April 2005 – December 2005 Senior Branch Operations Specialist San Francisco, CA • Review AML Compliance Program of MSB clients based on their risk criteria.
HFC Finance Fiji Islands
July 2004 – February 2005 Manager - Portfolio Management • Manage high-risk customers by conducting financial analysis and developing credit strategy for upgrade and exit of customers.
• Report risks, returns, and provisions to stakeholders. • Lead and direct a team and engage with the respective business units to detect signs of deteriorating credits and provide feedback for any adverse underwriting or industry trends. • Decrease the value of high-risk portfolios through effective problem credit management and re-education of customers. • Apply early intervention strategies to rehabilitate delinquent customers and maximize the collection of dues to the bank, assess the risk of non-collection, and provide early recommendations and actions to ensure the bank is protected. • Communicate and work with business partners to achieve desired results. • Build effective relationships and networks with business units to leverage experience and learning. • Meet with lines of businesses regularly to review their portfolios to detect deteriorating credits and provide guidance on rectification strategies (including shadowing some accounts). • Develop and maintain a detailed understanding of customers’ business and financial profiles.
MONITA SHARMA
South San Francisco, CA 94080
Phone:
Email:
• Ensure the application of 'best practice' asset management methods and interventions strategies within the team. • Identify, evaluate, and where appropriate implement new strategies to increase the effectiveness of the team. • Effective management, monitoring, and control of existing asset management processes. • Ensure effective data collection and reporting to provide stakeholders with accurate updates on the high-risk portfolio • Oversee preparation of written documentation (letters and advisory) required to support ongoing maintenance of customer relationships and compliance with bank guidelines.
• Ensure all provisions are raised and reported in a timely and accurate manner. • Oversee accurate compilation of all returns (Watch & Control List, Provisioning) and compilation and preparation of all periodic internal reporting requirements.
• Assist in recovery action where required (issue of demand notices/receiverships/ liquidations), engaging legal. • Develop and lead a team of Asset Management professionals. • Increase the capability of the team and leaders through coaching and ongoing development • Mitigate the risk of increased write-offs and loan arrears through constant monitoring, effective controls, and timely intervention in high-risk accounts.
July 2004 – July 2004 Relieving Business Relationship Manager • Oversee commercial and high-profile accounts.
• Communicate with high-profile customers and conduct a site visit. • Submit commercial loan proposals for the bank’s Credit Board approval.
January 2004 – June 2004 Business Relationship Officer
• Analyze commercial and high-profile customers’ loan proposals for supervisor’s approval. • Analyze Loan Exposure Return in line with Reserve Bank of Fiji’s requirement.
November 2003 – January 2004 Business Relationship Support Officer • Analyze commercial loan proposals for supervisor’s approval.
January 2002 – November 2003 Business Analyst
• Analyze commercial loan proposals for supervisor’s approval.
CERTIFICATIONS
• Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) - Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering (ACAMS) • Six Sigma Black Belt Certification – Management and Strategy Institute (MSI) • Project Management Essentials Certified (PMEC) – MSI
• Wells Fargo Anti-Money Laundering Sanctions credential