Regulatory Innovation and Modernization?: Staying Ahead in Financial Services Compliance and Licensing -- NOT CLE

Financial services and fintech clients benefit from Tim’s firsthand experience with the licensing procedures in virtually every state, along with extensive knowledge of state regulators, requirements and industry participants.

Tim was instrumental in the development and launch of APPROVED. He draws on a wealth of operational and strategic leadership in his position as CEO, overseeing APPROVED’s technology-enabled, fixed-fee service that assists companies obtaining and maintaining state-required licenses.

Prior to joining APPROVED, Tim spent nine years working at the Conference of State Bank Supervisors as its senior director of policy, where he focused his efforts on policy and system development for state regulatory agencies. While at CSBS, Tim led external stakeholder engagement for NMLS 2.0, an overhaul designed to make NMLS more intuitive and efficient for industry users and regulators. He also managed and worked on the SAFE Act implementation in NMLS, the expanded use of NMLS for money transmitter, debt collector, consumer lender and other nonmortgage licenses, as well as the development of the first nationwide electronic surety-bond platform. In addition, he worked nationally with state regulators and industry participants to facilitate corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions.

Susanna Sedrak advises on consumer and commercial financial services matters for an array of clients, including fintech companies, banks, mortgage lenders and servicers, consumer lenders and commercial lenders.

Susanna assists clients by providing federal and state compliance advice, including completing surveys on various mortgage, consumer, and commercial-lending topics, such as requirements related to fair lending, debt collection, preemption, bank partnership models, interest on escrow, borrower correspondence and navigating communications with Limited English Proficiency borrowers. She analyzes lending and servicing practices in light of federal laws such as the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), and Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), and their accompanying regulations, as well as assists with preemption determinations.

She is a co-founder of Winnow, an innovative platform that allows financial and lending institutions to generate custom state regulatory surveys and searches by business type, license, product and geographic market. She is also the Chair of the Webinars & Roundtables Subcommittee of the American Bar Association's Consumer Financial Services Committee and was a member of the Mortgage Banking Association’s 2014 class of Future Leaders.

Katy Ryan advises financial services companies on a variety of regulatory, licensing, compliance, and transactional matters, including federal and state compliance requirements, Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Act compliance, Federal Housing Administration (FHA) compliance and the risks associated with the False Claims Act (FCA) and Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act (FIRREA).

She represents banks, first and second mortgage originators and servicers, reverse mortgage originators and servicers, fulfillment service providers, commercial lenders and servicers, bank holding companies, private equity firms, finance companies, debt collection companies, financial institutions and technology companies, payment processors, money transmitters and various related service providers.

Katy assists clients with matters before state regulatory agencies, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), federal banking agencies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. She also provides strategic and tactical advice to help clients identify and secure the nationwide federal and state approvals necessary to achieve operational goals.

As Chief Operating Officer and Founding Member of Winnow, Chris Hilliard leads a team of legal, compliance, and technology professionals who are transforming the way financial institutions and lenders navigate state and federal regulatory requirements. Winnow is a powerful online application that enables users to generate surveys and searches tailored to their specific business type, licensing, products, and geographic scope, based on a comprehensive and dynamic database of state and federal laws and regulations.

Chris Hilliard has over 20 years of industry experience in consumer, commercial, and residential mortgage lending and general banking, with extensive expertise in regulatory compliance, BSA/AML, internal audit, licensing, and legal functions. He is a Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager (CRCM) and a Certified Compliance and Ethics Professional (CCEP), as well as a California Licensed Life, Accident & Health Agent. He has held executive, senior management, and mid-level management positions at major financial institutions and lenders, where he managed all aspects of compliance, risk, and litigation, as well as product development, management, and design. He is passionate about leveraging technology to create innovative solutions that enhance compliance efficiency, effectiveness, and customer satisfaction.