Jeff Clark

Senior Consultant—BD and FINOP

With over twenty years of experience, Jeff Clark is a seasoned consultant to the Financial Industry. Prior to his career as an independent consultant, Jeff was employed by the SEC and by FINRA as a Senior Compliance Examiner and Staff Accountant.

At the SEC Jeff functioned as the Team Leader responsible for coordinating examinations of large broker/dealer, investment advisors and transfer agents. Prior to joining the SEC, Jeff served as a Senior Compliance Examiner with FINRA.

Following his SEC and FINRA experience, Jeff became a partner of Dover International, an Atlanta-based financial services consulting firm that was subsequently acquired by Bisys Professional and Educational Services and then by Citigroup. More recently Jeff was a Manager with the Financial Services section of the Capital Markets Consulting Group with KPMG.

Jeff’s experience also includes serving as Director of Compliance for a large broker/dealer and registered investment advisor firm with over one thousand representatives.

Carol Desmond

Senior Legal Consultant

Carol Desmond has over twenty years of experience as an attorney developing compliance programs and providing legal counsel to financial institutions. Carol’s in-depth knowledge of Dodd-Frank, the Volker Rule, the ’33, ’34 and both ’40 Acts brings clarity and confidence to clients seeking to negotiate the maze of rules and regulations.

Prior to her current consulting role which has included acting as the Interim Chief Compliance Officer for a large mutual fund complex, she was a corporate attorney for eight years with the New York law firm Satterlee Stephens Burke & Burke LLP where she provided counsel to U.S. and foreign broker/dealer and advisor institutions on U.S. Securities Law and regulatory compliance matters. She continues her legal advisory work Of Counsel with the NY law firms Zeisler PLLC and Miltenberg, LLP.

Before entering private practice as an attorney, Carol was General Counsel and Chief Operating Officer for America Works, a New York City property and equipment leasing company of 175 employees in seven offices IN five states where she negotiated contracts and implemented strategic and operational initiatives that resulted in $75 million of additional funding.

Carol is a member of the New York State Bar Association and has published numerous articles on the US Securities Laws and corresponding compliance issues. She has been a featured speaker at legal forums since 2008. Carol is a graduate of Georgetown University Law School and earned an A.B. from the University of Miami.

Ron Lankford

Senior Consultant--BD, RIA and Operations

Ron Lankford has over twenty-five years of experience building financial reporting and clearing operations for financial institutions.

In 1987, after serving as a Supervisor of Examiners and Senior Analyst in NASD’s (n.k.a. FINRA) Washington Headquarters, Ron joined what was then Nations Bank as Vice President for Securities Operations and Compliance with a professional staff of 30 where he was responsible for listed and OTC equity trading, self-clearing margin, options clearing, cashiering, settlements and broker-dealer accounting. He is credited with the development of the Bank’s correspondent business and the development of the its original retail branch network.

Following the merger of Nations Bank into Bank of America, Ron became a partner of The Dover Group, a financial services consulting firm that eventually became Bisys and was subsequently purchased by Citigroup. At Dover Ron was responsible for high end projects including the establishment of Key Clearing, the former broker/dealer clearing operation of Key Bank, the self-clearing operation and retail structure for USAA Investment Management and the training plan rollout for the then new online trading platform at Bear Stearns.

After the purchase of Bysis by Citigroup Ron went on to create TradeStation, the broker/dealer subsidiary of a public company where he established a trading platform to support over 75 thousand client accounts. After the completion of TradeStation, Ron became Chief Operations Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Sage Southeastern Securities a broker/dealer, investment advisor and insurance financial services firm.

Ron received a BS in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from Auburn University. Ron holds active licenses for the Series 4, 7, 24, 27, 53, 63, and 66 registrations.

Brian Megenity

Senior Consultant--BD and FINOP

Brian Megenity started his career in the securities industry in 1993 as a Compliance Examiner for the NASD (n.k.a FINRA) in the Atlanta District Office. His primary responsibility involved conducting routine examinations of broker/dealers located throughout the southeast and the Caribbean.

Since leaving FINRA, Brian has served in various roles at different broker/dealers, including Chief Compliance Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer, Financial and Operations Principal, Director of Sales Practices & Advertising and Director of Surveillance. Most recently, Brian was the Chief Compliance Officer for a large insurance affiliated broker/dealer with more than 6000 registered representatives and over 550 branch offices.

Brian is currently the FINOP for three broker/dealers, including a municipal securities underwriter and two Alternative Trading Systems. Brian has been and currently is a Chief Compliance Officer and FINOP for a variety of broker/dealers, including market makers, underwriters and general securities broker/dealers.

Brian’s areas of expertise include general broker/dealer compliance, variable products, mutual funds, underwriting, trading and market making, sales practices, financial books and records and anti-money laundering. Brian currently holds active licenses for Series 7, 24, 27, 62, 63, 66 and 79 registrations.

Brian received a BS and MBA in Finance from Georgia State University

Herbert Pontzer

Managing Principal

Herbert Pontzer has been associated with the financial services industry for over twenty years as a manager, regulator, and corporate executive and financial industry consultant.

Prior to becoming an independent consultant specializing in broker-dealer and investment advisor services, Herb served as a senior executive and Chief Compliance Officer for two national independent broker-dealer/RIAs. As CCO, Herb was responsible for the development and implementation of risk management programs that included auditing, surveillance, complaint handling, training, advertising, regulatory reporting, platform and direct business processing and the management of the compliance departments.

Herb’s work experience in the corporate sector was preceded by a 12 year career as a regulator with the National Association of Securities Dealers (k.n.a. FINRA). As a Senior Analyst with the Association’s Corporate Financing Department in Washington, DC, he reviewed initial public offerings for compliance with the securities laws. Later, as a Field Supervisor for the NASD’s Washington DC and Cleveland District Offices, he was responsible for directing staff examiners during on-site routine examinations and special investigations.

Herb received a BA in Government from Georgetown University and an MBA in Finance from American University. He is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®), a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) and holds active licenses for Series 7, 24, 27, 53, 63, 65, 99 and FL-Life, Health and Variable Annuity Insurance.

Sander Ressler

Senior Consultant--BD RIA and AML

Sander Ressler began his career in 1988 as a Financial Examiner with the State of Florida. From 1992 through 2011 Mr. Ressler held successive positions of responsibility with nationally recognized financial services organizations including Director of Regional Supervision for Securities America, Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer of AIG/American General, Senior Manager with Deloitte & Touche LLP (New York City) and President of EMG Capital, Inc. in Miami, FL.

With his regulatory executive management experience, Sander has been providing consulting and auditing services to both large and small financial institutions since 2011. Mr. Ressler also frequently works with prominent defense counsel law firms by providing expert witness services for broker/dealer and registered investment advisors.

Mr. Ressler received a Bachelor’s Degree in Investment Finance from Florida State University. Sander maintains active securities licenses as a Series 7, 24 and 63 and is an active member of the National Society of Compliance Professionals and has been a featured speaker at their Annual Conferences.

Tina Sarnoff

Senior Consultant—BD and AML

Tina Sarnoff has been associated with the financial services industry for over twenty-three years as an Administrative Assistant, Administrative Manager, Assistant Compliance Officer, Compliance Officer, Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer, Chief Compliance Officer, and Consultant.

Her expertise is in many facets of regulatory compliance including most recently as the Chief Compliance Officer for a technology firm working with customers required to follow and enforce Know Your Customer (KYC) and/or Customer Identification Program (CIP) rules and regulations by authenticating customers to prevent loss by the use of fraudulent documents. She also worked as an Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer/Privacy Officer at an International broker/dealer and RIA and as a self-employed consultant for dually registered financial services firms.

She is a proven dedicated professional with current FINRA Series 7 and 24 licenses, Florida Life & Variable Annuity license, and Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) and Certified Financial Crimes Specialist (CFCS) certifications.

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