FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS PRACTICE
Regulators and prosecutors often work together when building a case. It is important to approach any regulatory matter using the same methodology as your regulator. It is critical to be aware of all facets of a criminal or regulatory inquiry. Developing a good relationship, communicating and working in lockstep with all agencies involved is critical to the outcome of any inquiry. Tendy Law Office represents both corporate and individual clients in a wide range of regulatory matters. Many of our matters involve parallel investigations by authorities in the United States and around the world.
Regulatory Relationship Management
We support client's relationships with regulators by fostering the essence of the regulatory relationship - trust. We practice before all major bank and securities regulators, including the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the New York State Banking Department, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Securities and Exchange Commission and the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD).
Anti-money Laundering Programs
Know Your Customer and Suspicious Activity
Have you ever felt that even though you have AML policies and procedures in place that you are drowning in procedure but not quite confident your systems and controls will catch a concerted effort to launder money through your institution? Do you every wonder why compliance personnel litter you with questions about how to comply with procedure but no one comes to your office to discuss a suspicious occurrence? You are not alone. If you are going home at night with that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach, it is time to take a more practical approach to your AML program. AML programs should provide easy to understand guidance to everyone in your institution.
The best money an institution can spend is to obtain independent assessment of its AML program. Financial Institutions ideally should take a proactive approach to identify internal weaknesses in customer information. Sometimes, no matter what programs are in place, things go wrong. Tendy Law Office works with institutions to respond quickly and aggressively to a regulatory inquiry and take corrective action.
Our programs are individually tailored to each financial institution and take into account the critical aspects of Know Your Customer obligations. We then develop a program that includes a practical approach to compliance. We can help you analyze your existing program to create a risk based protocol. We use a practical, holistic approach to develop or restructure AML policies. Our goal it to create policies and procedures that are easy to understand and user friendly.
Whether to identify weakness in an existing anti-money laundering program or to create a program from the ground up, we put together teams of experts who can identify and analyze all areas of vulnerability.
Securities Industry Investigations
Tendy Law Office helps broker/dealers respond to a current inquiry by state or federal regulators. We have extensive experience with the investigative and compliance aspects of the following securities-related issues: Insider Trading, Supervision, Market Timing/Late Trading, Sales Practice, Financial Operations, Order Handling and Fraud & Misconduct. Sheila Tendy can draw on her extensive industry knowledge to assist clients in assessing its compliance infrastructure.
Mortgage Banks
Tendy Law Office has a special expertise in mortgage fraud. While at the New York State Banking Department, she started a multi-agency mortgage fraud task force in collaboration with the FBI. Her article, "Protecting Wholesalers from Fraud", Mortgage Banking Magazine, December 1998 has proven timeless in its approach to the problem of mortgage fraud.
Ms. Tendy has worked on major mortgage fraud investigations as both a regulator and in the private sector. Tendy has spoken on the subject of mortgage fraud to the Mortgage Guarantee Insurance Company and The Mortgage Brokers Association.
Money Transmitters
Tendy Law Office has an in depth understanding of issues faced by the money transmitter community. Money transmitters have suffered tremendously in the post 9/11 world. They struggle to keep their doors open and struggle to maintain relationships with banks while providing a critical service to the millions of immigrants that keep the United States running everyday. Ms. Tendy has worked with money transmitters facing regulatory scrutiny and loss of banking services. She has created compliance and anti-money laundering programs and has conducted independent due diligence of money transmitters to provide to their bankers.
Small Financial Institutions
Tendy Law Office is committed to meeting the needs of smaller financial institutions who are underserved by the legal and compliance community. We work within every budget. Please call for a consultation.