Sepideh Rowland, Esq., CCBCO, CAFP

Sepideh Rowland is a senior compliance executive with deep regulatory and operational knowledge of banking, money services business, virtual assets, and fintech. She has 25 years of legal and compliance experience in developing and administering financial crimes compliance programs to exceed regulatory requirements and incorporate industry best practices. She has extensive experiences interacting with Federal and state regulatory authorities. Ms. Rowland has held leadership positions as chief compliance or BSA/AML and sanctions officer, at several of the financial community’s most respected institutions, community banks, and money services businesses. She also played an active role in lobbying and advocating for financial institutions as senior counsel with the American Bankers Association. Ms. Rowland was the recipient of the 2023 American Bankers Association’s Distinguished Service Award for Financial Crimes in recognition of her career and contributions to the banking industry.

Ms. Rowland’s experience is broad and includes the implementation of state-of-the-art compliance systems, the management of large transaction monitoring teams, the management of consent and enforcement actions, and the establishment of governance oversight programs. In the various roles as the bank’s Compliance or BSA Officer, Ms. Rowland was responsible for developing and implementing comprehensive consumer compliance and financial crimes compliance oversight, risk assessment, internal controls, and enterprise training programs. In addition, Ms. Rowland has extensive experience with reporting to Board of Directors and interacting with regulatory agencies.

Ms. Rowland currently serves as Co-Chair of the U.S. Capital Chapter Advisory Board for the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS), as Co-Chair of the Advisory Board for the ABA/ABA Financial Crimes Enforcement Conference, as the Co-Chair of the Editorial Board of the ABA’s Bank Compliance magazine, and as an Advisory Board Member (former Chair) for the American Bankers Association Certified AML and Fraud Professional (CAFP) certification program. Ms. Rowland also serves as an Independent Director for Battle Bank.

Ms. Rowland received a J.D. from Michigan State University School of Law and a B.A. in political science and sociology from The George Washington University. She is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia and in Michigan. She is a member of the American Bar Association and the Federal Bar Association. Ms. Rowland earned the Certified Community Bank Compliance Officer designation from the Independent Community Bankers of America and a Certified AML and Fraud Professional designation from the American Bankers Association.