Lecturer Bios
Patricia Albrecht, Esq.
Patricia Albrecht is a senior director with FINRA’s Member Relations and Education Department and manages the FINRA Institute at Wharton for the Certified Regulatory and Compliance Professional™ (CRCP™) program and FINRA’s Half-Day Compliance Boot Camp program. Previously, she was an associate general counsel in FINRA’s Office of General Counsel, and served in the same role at NASD before its 2007 consolidation with NYSE Member Regulation, which resulted in the formation of FINRA. She also has worked at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in various offices and departments, including the Office of General Counsel and the Division of Trading and Markets, and serving as a counselor to Commissioner Norman Johnson. In addition, Ms. Albrecht worked for several years as a staff attorney at the U.S. Federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and completed a federal judicial clerkship with U.S. District Court Judge Harry Lee Hudspeth.
Carolyn R. May
Carolyn R. May currently serves as a Compliance Officer for Smith, Brown & Groover, Inc., a full service retail broker dealer in Macon, GA. Prior to her association with SBG, Ms. May served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Simmons First Investment Group, Inc., a bank-affiliated, full service Broker Dealer in Little Rock, Arkansas. In addition Ms. May has been a Compliance Consultant to Broker Dealers, Investment Advisors, CPAs and attorneys for over 30 years. Her industry experience includes acting as Chief Compliance Officer and Chief Financial Officer for several regional and local small firms (both self-clearing and introducing). She has received her Certified Securities Compliance Professional (CSCP) certification through the program offered by the National Society of Compliance Professionals (NSCP). She has served as the Southern Regional Representative to FINRA’s District 5 Committee as well as on FINRA’s Small Firm Advisory Board; the District 5 Committee from 2003 – 2005 (acting as Vice Chairman and Chairman of the Committee); the Regional Nominating Committee for the South Region from 2004 – 2005; the District Nominating Committee from 2006 – 2007 (served as Chairman); the National Advisory Council (2005) and the Consultative Committee (2006 – 2007). In addition to committee service, she has been an instructor/developer for several NASD (now FINRA) Seminar Programs and has been an instructor for the Wharton NASD Institute for Professional Development. She has also served on various panels for FINRA Regional and National Small Firm Conferences and NSCP Regional and National Conferences. Ms. May has been a member of NSCP (National Association of Compliance Professionals) since 1989 (she served as Secretary of the Board of Directors from 1992 – 1994) and is a member of the SIFMA Compliance and Legal Division. She also has served as Chairman of the board of the National Association of Independent Broker Dealers (NAIBD), a small firm advocacy group.
Eric Sams
Eric Sams is currently the President of Keystone Capital Corporation, A FINRA member firm and SEC-registered Investment Adviser. Mr. Sams is responsible for the on boarding and ongoing supervision and management of the firm’s registered representatives and sales force. Mr. Sams also plays a roll in the ongoing compliance monitoring, updating of policies and procedures, accounting and day-to-day operations of Keystone Capital Corporation. Mr. Sams maintains FINRA Series 4, 7, 24, 66, 79 and 99 licenses, as well as several state life and health insurance licenses. In addition to his duties and position with Keystone Capital Corporation, Mr. Sams is also a consultant at Monahan & Roth, LLC. In his capacity as a consultant for Monahan & Roth, Mr. Sams performs due diligence and suitability reviews for other FINRA member firms for private securities offerings. Mr. Sams also assists in expert witness cases the firm is contracted for, specifically focusing on securities and insurance cases. In his capacity at Keystone Capital Corporation, as well as Monahan & Roth, LLC, Mr. Sams has had front line experience in both running a small FINRA firm, as well as consulting for such firms. This has given him a wide breadth of experience and exposure to the issues faced by small firms.