Sean Gray presently serves as Managing Director and Chief Compliance Officer for Bessemer Trust. In that capacity, he is responsible for directing the overall compliance functions and programs (including overall oversight of the AML Program) for The Bessemer Group, Inc. and Subsidiary Companies, including management of all regulatory examinations and relationships with key state, federal and international banking and securities regulators, including: Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, (OCC), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Federal Reserve Bank of New York, (FRBNY), Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta (FRBATL), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Cayman Island Monetary Authority (CIMA), and several state banking departments.
Prior to joining Bessemer Trust in 2015, Sean served as Senior Vice President and Chief Risk Officer for the Wealth and Institutional Services Division (WISD) of M &T Bank (2013 – 2015), which included risk management oversight of Wilmington Trust Corporation and affiliated entities.
Sean came to M & T Bank/Wilmington Trust Co. from PNC Financial Services Group, where he served (2009 – 2013) as Senior Vice President and Head of Asset Management, Broker Dealer, Capital Markets and Derivatives Compliance (CCO). In that role, Sean led a compliance team comprised of over 100 professionals managing compliance risk for PNC’s Wealth Management, Institutional Investments, Family Office, Registered Investment Advisers, Mutual Funds, Retail/ Institutional Broker Dealers, Capital Markets and Derivatives/Alternative Investments businesses. Additionally, Sean had AML Program related oversight responsibilities for certain PNC business lines and was primarily responsible for enterprise wide Fiduciary Risk Management across the entire PNC platform (all PNC business lines), serving as Chair of PNC’s Fiduciary and Investment Risk Committee.
Prior to joining PNC in 2009, Sean held various senior level Risk and/or Compliance positions with Merrill Lynch since 1998. He served as Director of Global Wealth Management (GWM) Product Distribution Supervision, Director of Global Private Client Banking and Trust/Fiduciary Compliance charged with overall compliance risk responsibilities for Merrill Lynch’s domestic banking (e.g., lending, deposits etc.) and trust/fiduciary products and services delivered through various Merrill Lynch banks/thrifts and the Global Private Client Group channel, and Senior Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer (and AML Compliance Officer) for Merrill Lynch Trust Company, FSB (also a Registered Investment Adviser) as well as Merrill Lynch’s eight (8) state chartered trust companies, and Family Office Group.
Prior to joining Merrill (1987 – 2009), Sean was the Senior/Supervising Bank Examiner for the NJ Department of Banking, responsible for monitoring all New Jersey’s state chartered institutions providing banking and fiduciary services (including assessment their AML/BSA Programs), e.g., banks, trust companies etc. Sean also served as a lead Examiner in the Department’s Enforcement Group, i.e., drafting/serving Cease and Desist Orders, Memorandums of Understandings (MOU’s) and Closure Orders.
Sean is a graduate of Richard Stockton University (B.A. Accounting) and holds a law degree from Rutgers Law School, where he graduated cum laude. He has also completed additional credits towards his L.L.M. degree in Taxation (Concentration in Estate Planning) at Temple University School of Law.
Sean has participated as a Presenter and/or Planning Committee Member for the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) Annual Trust Forum, Campbell University Sponsored Trust Advisor’s Forum, various Fiduciary and Investment Risk Management Association (FIRMA) training conferences, the Bank Administration Institute’s (BAI) and American Bankers Association (ABA) annual Wealth Management Conferences, as well as the Financial Markets Association (FMA) annual conference. He also maintains or has held Certified Risk Professional (CRP) and Certified Anti-Money Laundering (CAMS) designations as well as Series 7, 63 and 24 securities licenses. He is also an active member of various Industry/Regulatory Risk and Compliance Roundtables.