Your business is covered at all times by a team that can handle complexities and mitigates compliance risk.
Francesco Matteini, CEO and Founder
Founder and thought leader at the intersection of compliance, regulation, and fintech
CEO and Founder of InnReg.
Experience
- Expert in the compliance and operational challenges faced by fintechs and more established financial services firms.
- 16-year track record of working with firms at the launch, early development, and growth phases.
- Sets InnReg strategy and oversees the services delivered by InnReg’s team of over 20 U.S.-based compliance professionals experienced in compliance, supervision, and risk mitigation.
- Former Chief Compliance Officer at TradeKing and Zecco, online brokers he helped launch and merge into the 6th largest online BD in the US with 500,000 customers and $2.6 billion invested assets. The combined company was acquired by Ally Bank in 2016.
- Mentor and advisor to entrepreneurs in fintech and beyond.
- Fluent in English, Italian, and Spanish.
Licenses and Credentials
- FINRA Series 7
- FINRA Series 63
- FINRA Series 24
- FINRA Series 4
- FINRA Series 53
- Master of Public Administration, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
- JD, Università degli Studi di Firenze (Italy)
Fintech founder and C-level leader with a 25-year career in broker-dealer environments
With InnReg since 2016.
- Co-founder of an innovative online broker providing tools and research for the online trading of stocks, options, and bonds.
- Advisor to early-stage financial technology companies as well as established enterprises on operational and compliance matters.
- Experienced Chief Compliance Officer for FINRA and SEC registered firms,, responsible for compliance oversight and reporting.
- FINRA licenses:
- Series 27 (Financial and Operations Principal).
- Series 53 (Municipal Securities Principal).
- Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS).
- Designed and implemented a front-end platform and back office functions including order entry, customer service, and new accounts, all optimized for streamlined, efficient compliance.
- Designed and implemented compliant online and print marketing campaigns for a globally recognized wealth management company.
- Early career experience as an online options and stocks broker.
Former CCO of investment advisory (arm of a leading global investment research provider)
With InnReg since 2018.
- Over 20 years of experience as Chief Compliance officer for national and international investment data, research and managed product firms.
- A wealth of industry knowledge and compliance expertise in the practical application of SEC, FINRA, and ERISA rules and regulations.
- Certification: Distinguished Investment Adviser Certified Compliance Professional ® (IACCP ®).
- Provided comprehensive operational oversight of major investment advisory subsidies in North America and globally.
- Held key roles in compliance leadership with notable wealth advisory, investment data, and financial services firms.
- Responsible for developing policies and procedures, conducting employee trainings and competency audits, and completing federal regulatory filings with relevant agencies.
- Earlier roles include Operations Supervisor, providing leadership and oversight for multiple offices including personnel management, and Account Specialist, with responsibility for client-facing duties including account application forms, custodial accounts, client fund management, and implementation of trade activities.
- Special focus: policy and procedure development for organizational and personnel operations.
- Additional experience:
- Ten years of paralegal experience in business, probate, and estate planning and accounting, requiring a strong foundation in statute and legal processes.
- Founder of a customized solutions firm serving top-tier independent registered investment advisers and broker-dealers.
- Provided design and implementation of compliance administration initiatives that allow financial professionals to focus on serving clients and growing their businesses.
Series 24 principal with over 15 years of experience with two of the largest BD/RIA in the U.S.
With InnReg since 2017.
- Over 15 years’ experience serving clients of multinational financial services and full service, broker-dealer firms.
- Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor (CRPC ®).
- Leadership of compliance programs and internal audit review processes for multiple major areas of client-facing operations for FINRA broker-dealers and Registered Investment Advisers (RIA).
- Experience serving as an Account Executive, Supervisory Principal, and Financial Adviser for nationally recognized financial and securities firms.
- Expertise in developing operational policies and procedures for risk mitigation and ensuring that transactions are resolved in accordance with regulatory standards.
- Extensive experience bridging client services with the complexities of organizational operations.
- Keen insight into organizational challenges, internal and external customer needs, and the rapidly changing regulatory world.
- Key resource and partner to organizational and individual stakeholders in numerous development initiatives.
Over 20 years of banking and loan servicing experience at four of the largest US financial institutions
With InnReg since 2018
- Over 15 years of industry experience in fast-paced, confidential, and high pressure and deadline-driven settings.
- Recognized as a dependable leader known for problem solving to meet the needs of national organizations and individual clients.
- Financial Services Professional with a Master’s Degree in Global Strategic Communications.
- FINRA License Series 6.
- Key experience with several of the largest U.S. financial service providers in multiple divisions, including:
- Banking.
- Mortgage loan origination and services.
- Foreclosure.
- Bankruptcy.
- Extensive experience in Due Diligence analysis and processes.
- Expertise in state and national regulatory licensing, and regulatory policy impact for business initiative development and practices.
- Client-facing experience in financial planning, portfolio review, prospective engagement, networking, business development in target markets, and regulatory compliance.
- Management experience in the mortgage and loan services industry.
- Navigated some of the most stringent and complex regulatory requirements in the field, including:
- Governmental regulations.
- Investor servicing guidelines.
- Bank and investor loss protection mechanisms.
Ten years of banking, money transmitter and lender compliance experience; licensing expert
With InnReg since 2017
- Nationally recognized Financial, SOC, AML, and licensing compliance lead, known for guiding clients to custom tailored compliance solutions that bring private and equity venture capitalists, boutique consulting firms, startups, banks and financial service providers, technology vendors, and service providers together into dynamic risk management and compliance strategies for the digital world.
- Licensing, audits and examinations, and technology compliance.
- Extensive experience leading national teams through Federal regulations across a range of enterprise areas.
- A decade of experience providing comprehensive compliance and risk management strategy advice to corporate and individual clients.
- Areas of expertise include:
- Compliance Management Systems (design, development, and management)
- Banking & Regulatory Compliance
- Cryptocurrency Compliance
- PCI Compliance, ADA WCAG 2.0 Brick & Mortar/Digital Compliance
- Scalable Infrastructure Development and Proprietary Credit, Risk, and Fraud Model Development, as well as Systems Compliance and Fintech
- MBA and Business Management graduate.
- Experience as Chief Compliance, Director of Compliance, and Manager of Compliance for several of California’s leading financial services firms.
- Instrumental in developing and implementing policy and procedure and training curriculum to ensure organizational success with local and federal regulatory and compliance standards, including UDAP, ECOA, and Fair Lending.
- Extensive experience overseeing RFI procedures and partnering with legal teams to ensure exemplary achievement of internal and external compliance standards.
Former CEO of international broker-dealer and advisor
With InnReg since 2018
- MPA from Harvard University.
- Experience in key leadership roles for numerous domestic and international financial institutions.
- FINRA licenses:
- Series 7
- Series 24
- Series 66
- Fully bilingual in English and Spanish.
- Managed financial decision making analysis and processes for mutual fund and insurance firms.
- Successfully launched the first fully disclosed, paperless broker-dealer in the United States designed primarily to serve Spanish-speaking clients.
- Served as CEO and operational leader of a team responsible for structuring a fully-disclosed broker-dealer in the US for the third largest private financial institution in a leading Latin American financial market, with international operations and almost $50 billion in assets.
- Served as managing partner and lead consultant for portfolio and wealth management firms with clients seeking to grow and protect high net-worth assets.
Financial data analytics and modeling expert
With InnReg since 2019
- Financial services professional with a decade of international experience in management and operations.
- Prepared financial and shareholder reports.
- Provided critical reconciliation services.
- Applied expertise in STATA, SPSS, WINGS, and TradeStation.
- Trilingual (Russian, Armenian, and English).
- Meticulous attention to detail in key operational roles including:
- Invoicing
- Accuracy verification
- Financial modeling
- General support to Finance divisions of major international organizations.
Ten-year tenure with US regulator; Big-Four AML auditor
With InnReg since 2018
- 18+ years as a legal and compliance professional in the financial services sector.
- Expert in FINRA rules, BSA/AML, and OFAC regulation, policy, and procedures
- Credentials: JD, MPA, and LLM (Master of Laws, Securities, and Financial Regulation), and Member of the Bar Associations in both New York and the District of Columbia.
- Specialty credentials:
- Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS)
- Anti-Money Laundering Certified Association (AMLCA)
- Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE)
- Certified Securities Compliance Professional (CSCP)
- FINRA Series 24 & 7 designations
- Senior Counsel experience at top regulatory entities responsible for planning and conducting all aspects of investigations to determine violations of federal securities laws, FINRA rules, and BSA/AML and OFAC regulations.
- Provided leading management consulting firms across the country with comprehensive and diverse services related to all aspects of federal securities laws and practices.
- Advisory consultation to Registered Investment Advisors and broker-dealers regarding regulatory and compliance issues.
- Development of drafts of regulatory responses, investment advisory agreements, articles of organization, operating agreements, and other legal documents critical to compliance activities.
- Private practice as a Managing Attorney for Securities and Regulation Enforcement.
- Leadership of testing initiatives to ensure that financial institutions’ BSA/AML and OFAC requirements, expectations, practices, and compliance procedures meet the highest standards.
- Gap analysis, reporting, and recommendations to executive leadership to improve organizational compliance and functioning.
Former fintech CCO with 20 years of experience
With InnReg since 2018
- Over two decades of corporate operations experience.
- Ten years experience serving as Chief Operating Officer for nationally known broker-dealer firms.
- Key leader in helping small businesses grow sustainably.
- Expert in overseeing NFA, CFTC, FINRA, and SEC audits as well as AML and Compliance department activities.
- Developer of Business Continuity Plans.
- Oversees contracts for a diversified range of stakeholders and partners.
- Manages daily business operations including risk, hiring, accounts, and trading.
- Experience in international reconcilement, portfolio administration, and loan portfolio supervision.
- Multimillion-dollar project management for the design of:
- a front-end customer service product
- a back-end CRM and OMS for operating brokerage business activities
- Currently completing UCLA’s distinguished Personal Financial Planner Program with CFP examination to follow.
Ten-year experience in financial services sales and marketing compliance
With InnReg since 2019
- SEC, FINRA, and Insurance expertise serving public and private clients for over a decade.
- Leadership of numerous teams of sales and service professionals to exceed their development and performance goals.
- As an Investment Coordinator for a nationally known full service financial advisory firm, provided meticulous research, reporting, and information management services to ensure compliance with federal laws.
- Worked diligently with management and staff to ensure timely and accurate updates and uninterrupted business operations
- As a Senior Investment Advisor, provided ongoing investment services for a $700 million+ book of business for the firm.
- Led the development of customized compliance solutions for financial advisors including comprehensive policies and procedures for growing and established companies
- Led initiatives to increase individual and small business consumer deposit activity.
- Additional expertise in social media and advertising review for compliance standards.
- Provided invaluable comprehensive reviews to clients seeking to proactively meet a higher compliance standard.
Financial operations expert and former regulator with over 30 years of experience
With InnReg since 2017
- CPA with over thirty years of experience in financial services operations and compliance.
- Has served as Financial & Operations Principal for over 55 FINRA broker-dealers (20 currently).
- Experienced Compliance Officer for broker-dealers and a former field supervisor for national, self-regulatory organizations in the securities industry who brings an unparalleled expertise in financial services compliance.
- Masters of Business Administration.
- Certifications:
- Public Accountant – New York
- Certified Public Accountant – Ohio
- Member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA)
- The New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants
- The NYSSCPA Stock Brokerage Committee
The Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants
- Licenses include:
- Industry Arbitrator – FINRA Dispute Resolution
- General Securities Registered Representative (Series 7)
- General Securities Sales Supervisor (Series 9/10)
- NYSE Compliance Official (Series 14)
- General Securities Principal (Series 24)
- Financial and Operations Principal (Series 27)
- Financial and Operations Principal – Introducing Firm (Series 28)
- Municipal Securities Principal (Series 53)
- Limited Representative – Equity Trader (Series 55)
- State Securities License (Series 63)
- Investment Advisor (Series 65)
- Research Analyst (Series 86/87)
12+ years of AML and regulatory management experience
With InnReg since 2019.
- AML and regulatory management consultant.
- In-depth knowledge of AML, CFT, and BSA regulatory requirements and industry best practices.
- Special FINRA licenses:
- Series 7
- Series 63
- Series 24
- ACAMS-certified
- Responsible for the end-to-end process, documentation, and procedures to register, license, and maintain lending and money transmitters licenses for MSBs.
- Managed and collaborated on licensing efforts for early-stage fintech companies.
- Liaised with regulatory agencies to ensure compliance with expansive state and federal regulations.
- Completed regular reviews of client-facing communications to ensure timely detection of suspicious activity.
- Reviewed and revised a variety of documents such as AML and information security procedures, risk assessments, and business plans.
- Compiled and updated internal records of state-by-state abandoned property law requirements and communicating deadlines to clients.
- Interpreted legal and regulatory ramifications of regulatory enforcement actions for InnReg clients.
Eight years of operational compliance and change management experience in highly regulated industries
With InnReg since 2019.
- Experienced in policies on a variety of issues:
- Access Control
- Asset Management
- AML
- BSA
- Due Diligence
- Document Retention
- FCRA and ECOA
- Human Resources Security, Incident Response
- Suspicious Transaction Monitoring and UDAP
- Business proposals for prospective clients for nonprofits and for-profit sector.
- Ensured compliance with a broad range of local, state, and federal regulations to finetune client and internal policies, in the areas of licensing requirements, and other compliance issues.
- Maintaining communication with clients to keep them abreast of regulatory changes, progress of ongoing tasks, and to keep projects on track.
- Coordinated a district-wide safety-critical project in a heavily regulated environment with no margin for error, while overseeing the disbursement of several million dollars in funds annually and preventing fraud under close government scrutiny.
- Fluent in Spanish.
- Established strong working relationships with local and state regulators, court officials, and federal law enforcement officers through in-person meetings and electronic communication, allowing to obtain legal exemptions for clients in cases where onerous regulations establish a subjectively undue burden.
17+ years of international compliance and risk management experience
With InnReg since 2022.
- Background in regulatory compliance, risk management, and governance within top-tier financial services and consulting firms in the U.S., Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
- Delivered large, complex business development and compliance transformation projects as a result of strategic, regulatory, risk, technological or operational evolutions.
- Established an enterprise-wide compliance risk management program
- Identified emerging regulatory risks
- Engaged with compliance, risk and business teams to determine impact and develop mitigation strategies
- Developed board-level Compliance management information and reporting of risk appetite, current and emerging risk across multiple jurisdictions in different regions and covering banking and capital markets, retail banking, commercial banking and wealth management business lines.
- Engaged with leading major global banks with regional responsibility for the design, project management and execution of Compliance Risk Assessment and Monitoring & Testing programs across multiple businesses.
- Partnered with senior Compliance management and chairing compliance strategy and governance committee meetings.
- Lead the development of various internal business and client-facing deliverables.
- Provided project management and compliance subject matter expertise to international financial institutions requiring review and transformation of risk operating models, risk and controls governance,
- Fluent in Italian and French; working knowledge of Spanish.
Licensing specialist with money transmitter and lender licensing
With InnReg since 2021.
- Project task management, internal communications, and client meeting arrangement and organization.
- Money transmitter licensing data research, compilation, and organization for licensing nationwide.
- Development of reporting calendars.
- Small Lender licensing data research, compilation, and organization.
- Review and document formation of federal and state regulations for receipt item requirements from money services businesses.
- Third-party vendor research and service details for clients.