Lecturer Bios
Michael Rufino
Michael Rufino is Executive Vice President and Head of Member Regulation—Sales Practice. In this capacity, he is responsible for overseeing FINRA’s Sales Practice program, which encompasses 15 District offices across the United States and the Membership Application Program. Mr. Rufino began his regulatory career in 1988 at the New York Stock Exchange. He has been with FINRA since its creation in 2007. Prior to serving in his current capacity, Mr. Rufino was the Chief Operating Officer in Member Regulation—Sales Practice. He has been involved in various industry initiatives throughout his career in regulation. In addition, Mr. Rufino is a representative on FINRA’s Compliance Advisory Committee. He has also served as a member of the Securities Industry Continuing Education (CE) Council, assisted in the creation of Electronic Communications Guidance to the industry and served as a member of the Social Networking Task Force. In addition, he participated in the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF)
initiative to create guidance on the risk-based approach to the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing as well as the FATF Typology on the Securities Industry. He previously served as FINRA’s representative on International Organization of Securities Commissions’ (IOSCO) Committee 3 on Intermediaries. Mr. Rufino graduated magna cum laude from Iona College with a degree in finance, and received his MBA with honors in management information systems from Iona.
Chad Estep
Chad Estep is the Global Head of Brokerage Compliance for E*TRADE Financial. Prior to joining E*TRADE in 2015, he worked at Stifel Financial for 10 years serving as the Director of Internal Audit and ultimately serving as the firm’s Chief Compliance Officer. He joined Stifel following their acquisition of PowellJohnson where he served as the firm’s Controller. Mr. Estep currently participates on SIFMA’s Compliance & Regulatory Policy Committee and SIFMA’s Private Client Legal Committee. Previously, he served on FINRA’s Compliance Advisory Committee, FINRA’s District 4 Committee, and SIFMA’s State Regulation and Legislation Committee. Early in his career he served as Financial and Regulatory Reporting Manager for J.C. Bradford and as a Financial Advisor at A.G. Edwards. Mr. Estep began his career in Nashville, TN as an auditor with Deloitte after graduating from Lipscomb University with a BS
in Professional Accountancy. He holds Series 7, 14, 24, 27, 63, and 65 designations.
James McHale
James McHale is CCO for Wells Fargo Advisors (“WFA”) and leads the compliance function for Wells Fargo’s retail brokerage business. Mr. McHale sits on the WFA Operating Committee. Prior to joining WFA, he was the Global Head of Brokerage Compliance for E*TRADE Financial Corporation, where, among other responsibilities, he helped design and implement an enterprise compliance program consistent with the expectations of the federal banking regulators. Prior to E*TRADE, Mr. McHale served as Managing Director and Associate General Counsel with the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), where he led advocacy efforts on proposed rules and regulations issued by the SEC, CFTC and FINRA, including several Dodd Frank Act implementation initiatives. Earlier inhis career, Mr. McHale was associate general counsel with E*TRADE, an associate in the Securities Industry Practice Group of the law firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius and prior to that served as special counsel with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Trading and Markets. Mr. McHale holds a J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law and a bachelor’s degree from the University of South Carolina School of Business Administration.
Lisa Roth
Lisa Roth is a registered principal with Keystone Capital Corporation; a FINRA member firm headquartered in San Diego, CA. Ms. Roth holds FINRA Series 4, 7, 24, 53 and 65 licenses. Ms. Roth is also the President of Monahan & Roth, LLC, a professional consulting firm offering regulatory compliance consulting, expert witness and litigation support services. Previously, Ms. Roth was the founder and CEO of ComplianceMAX Financial Corp., a regulatory compliance company offering technology and consulting services to more than 1,000 broker-dealers and investment advisers. Ms. Roth’s leadership at CMAX led to the development of audit and compliance workflow technologies now
in use by some of the United States largest (and smallest) broker-dealers and investment advisers. Ms. Roth has also served in various executive capacities with Royal Alliance Associates, First Affiliated Securities, and other brokerage and advisory firms. Ms. Roth has served on the FINRA Small Firm Advisory Board, including one year as its chair. She is the past chairman of the National Association of Independent Broker-Dealer (NAIBD), and has served on the Board of the Third Party Marketers’ Association. Ms. Roth has recently completed a two-year term as a member of the PCAOB Standing Advisory Group. She is an active participant in industry forums, including FINRA committees and trade associations. Ms. Roth is a frequent speaker at industry and regulatory conferences, and serves on ad hoc committees as necessary to promote a culture of continuous improvement for compliance and
operations among investment services firms. Ms. Roth resides in CA, but is a native of Pennsylvania,
where she attained a bachelor’s degree and was awarded the History Prize from Moravian College.