Bates Group has appointed Michael “‘Mike” Bernardo (pictured), as Managing Director of Bates’ Compliance Solutions (BCS) practice.
Based in New York, Bernardo will use his decades of compliance and regulatory experience to lead and continue building BCS’ team of compliance Analysts, Experts and Consultants, overseeing all of BCS’ broker-dealer, RIA, cyber security, DOL Fiduciary Rule, AML compliance services, training, and client engagements.
Bernardo comes to Bates from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), where he built and managed their broker-dealer regulatory team. He has proven experience providing consultative advice on all Regulatory, Compliance, and Operational aspects of the broker-dealer and RIA businesses, including: front office sales practices and supervisory processes for registered representatives and registered investment advisers; trading, including retail and institutional transactions, block trading, and trade allocations; financial controls, including policies, procedures, and processes for “FinOp” functions and regulatory reporting; operations, including margin, trade processing, fails, and Fed Funds; and back office compliance, including product reviews, active accounts, broker surveillance, and fee-based accounts.
He has helped broker-dealers and investment advisers register new affiliated entities, performed annual compliance reviews and mock examinations, consulted on supervisory, compliance, risk, and internal audit matters for SEC, FINRA, and other rules and regulations, including the DOL Conflict of Interest Rule, and assisted numerous clients with their fiduciary (trust) accounts as part of their Reg 9 reviews. Bernardo also has extensive experience in special products, such as variable and fixed annuities, discretionary accounts, and mutual funds, and has worked with banks and insurance companies on product sales and supervision.
Bernardo previously worked at NYSE Regulation, reviewing floor broker and trading desk activities and trading patterns, and spent a decade at major securities firms, including Morgan Stanley, Smith Barney/Citigroup and UBS (then PaineWebber) where he was responsible for front office sales & supervision, surveillance, and back office compliance and operations. He was also the Operations Manager of a USD5 billion branch office at UBS, overseeing brokers serving high-net-worth clients and portfolio managers (registered investment advisers) serving managed account clients. He began his career as part of the in-house Legal Support team at the Weehawken, NJ offices of PaineWebber.
“Mike is a very strategic hire for Bates,” says Bates Group President & CEO Jennifer Stout. “From a compliance practice perspective, Mike brings to this role experience and leadership that will tremendously benefit our clients and our firm. We welcome Mike to Bates Group and our Compliance Solutions Team.”
