Harry Filowitz 44 connections

Major Financial Services Company. Assisted with merger integration efforts and plans including adding Futures Trading and FOREX trading to their product Offerings. Prepared a gap analysis which identified project scope shortfalls and identified additional risk controls for the project. Assisted with the creation of a Target System Operating Model for the merged entity.

• Conducted an Assessment and Data Preparations project for a major Regulator to: (1) Evaluate the extent to which exchanges’ Trade Reporting Facilities (TRF) possesses and implements supervisory controls and procedures that meet the policies and procedures as documented in the Regulator’s Business Requirements Document (BRD) (2) to evaluate the extent to which each exchange administers and performs all business-related functions documented in the LLC Agreement and other related contractual documents. To accomplish the assessment the following actions were taken: (1) Review of existing policy and procedure documentation. Interviews with Business and Technical/IT staff in all of the groups supporting the TRF activities. (2) System Testing to confirm consistency with the documentation and interviews as well as to ensure compliance the Regulator’s Business Requirements Document. The assessment final deliverable provided: (1) An analysis of the findings. (2) Identification of Gaps. (3) Recommendations for remediation and (4) Provided the framework for annual assessment reviews
• Provided for a Leading Global Markets Investment Bank Back-Office Operations Support To help the client achieve operational process improvement and control, reduce costs and drive client satisfaction we: o Participated in the development of operations functional, user acceptance and parallel test strategies and plans o Drove the development of trade servicing, settlements and credit & collateral management functional and data conversion requirements, test scenarios and test scripts o Collaborated with the client to lead user testing and also functionally test code as delivered by the technology department including: a. Trade entry across credit, interest rate and equity products to support client services b. Master Confirmation creation and maintenance c. DTCC interfaces d. Rate set and other client notice generation and distribution e. DTCC and non-DTCC settlements processing including instructions, netting, wire generation, reconciliation and exception processing f. Account set-up and maintenance including for credit profiles g. Credit and collateral management including credit calculations, margin call processing and collateral movements • Diagrammed the processes used by a major NYC Bank’s US Master Trust’s Derivatives processing and custody operations , re-engineered their processes to change from a manual process environment to a workflow environment where the faxed instructions from the Investment Managers are indexed and routed electronically to all appropriate areas for processing. o Provided strategic recommendations for the next 2-5 years. o Documented user guides for each of the stations within the workflow. • Diagramed the process flows and documented procedures and Risk controls for a major Broker/Dealer’s multiple strategy portfolio products. • Co-authored a BearingPoint White Paper entitled “Integrating Sarbanes-Oxley Controls Into Your Corporate Governance Framework” to be published in the Spring 2007 issue of The Journal of Investment Compliance • Successfully developed a methodology of parsing regulatory Mandates so that Corporate Directives could be developed and maintained in response to them facilitating compliance audits. • Converted a major Mortgage Finance Institution’s policies and procedures into a standardized Corporate Governance structure which links the Directives, Policies and Procedures so that they can be monitored, maintained and communicated more effectively

Direct projects aimed at improving and/or re-engineering operational environments and risk control policies and procedures.
• Successfully streamline operations and eliminate duplicate processes while ensuring risk control measures are safeguarded.
• Revise procedure and policy documentation as needed.
• Identify and assist the implementation of system enhancements to more fully utilize automation of processes used.

Vice President, International and Domestic Settlements (Receive & Deliver Department), 2002/2004
Directed all activities involving the correct and timely processing of transactions for U.S. securities. Supervised department with 5 professionals in the settlement of domestic and global trades using the Depository Trust Company, the Bank of New York Government Securities Clearing, and Euroclear Systems.
• Successfully managed processing of the following: Depository Trust Company sales and purchases of $5 billion and $10 billion annually; Federal Government Securities sales and purchases of $162 billion and $192 billion annually; and an average of $75 million per trade through Euroclear.
• Planned and successfully implemented the seamless consolidation of depository accounts following the merger of 4 Japanese Banks into Mizuho Trust. Project accomplished with no loss of securities or income, and reduced overhead costs by 33%. Provided uninterrupted service to all customers.
• Created, tested and maintained a Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Plan for operations which successfully provided uninterrupted business continuity during the recent major power outage, resulting in no compensation claim losses to be incurred.
• Implemented the use of interfaces to fully automate the settlement process with the Depository Trust Company. Eliminated multiple manual data entries and reduced risk of input errors in excess of 60%. Department maintained a 95% or better rating with DTC trades versus industry average of 85%; saved manpower costs by 50%.
Vice President, Merger Project Leader, 1998 - 2002
Led a select team of 25 to 35 professionals in the successful conversion of 4 Japanese custody operations onto a consolidated system platform. Charged with insuring consistently high levels of service at all 4 merging entities.
• Chaired committee of representatives from the 4 merging companies to create successful project plan designed to seamlessly and accurately convert each of 4 banking systems onto a new consolidated system. Identified over 1,000 code files to be redefined; worked closely with vendor to create new system environment; reached consensus on work flows and organizational structure; scheduled and supervised testing, and verified results; designed and supervised the training of staff on the new system.
• Created a project plan to insure the orderly and smooth conversion from system to system resulting in one cohesive entity with one set of operational procedures and associated risk control measures, and with no loss to the company or clients.
• Developed an efficient organizational structure that made this $82 billion business volume insensitive, while maintaining a high degree of risk control.

Vice President, Comptroller, 1996 - 1998
Directed all activities for the Cash and Securities Reconciliations Group and its $50 billion under management. Guaranteed regulatory and company policies and procedures compliance, and insured appropriate meeting of liabilities to the Internal Revenue Service.
• Instituted and maintained a cross-training program designed to provide continuous staff coverage and insure daily reconciliations were completed on time. Program reduced staff turnover rate by 50% and provided more time for follow up of resolutions to out of balance problems.
• Designed and implemented a self-audit program to insure each department’s compliance with company’s policies and procedures as well as compliance with Federal and State regulations. Resulted in excellent ratings from external auditors and a strong rating from the FDIC.
• Created custody trade processing policies and procedures for the Global Plus System, resulting in better management of risk, and a more orderly and accurate workflow, increasing accuracy by 100%.
• Implemented use of outside mail service to process the mailing of customer/client statements at no cost to the company. Eliminated overtime for this activity, and freed up staff for reconciliation work.
Vice President, Operations 1988 - 1996
Managed the Corporate Trust Operations, Commercial Paper, Domestic Custody and Global Custody Groups. Administered assets in excess of $50 billion, supervising 7 professionals in trade settlements and commercial paper issuance.
• Reduced errors and compensation claims by 60% through design and implementation of procedures needed to control areas of risk, and which provided a more orderly and accurate workflow.
• Led committee to identify and implement a corporate trust system to replace an outdated, inadequate PC based system. Guided the code file definition and conversion process. Project reduced compensation claims by 80%, and significantly increased firm’s rating by the FDIC and N.Y. State Banking auditors.
• Assisted in increasing book of business from $25 billion to over $50 billion through development of a new Trust Accounting system which provided for growth through greater processing capabilities. Allowed for significant increases in business without increasing staff

Managed and directed Trust services offered to clients of the Royal Bank of Canada. Insured proper risk controls were in place and that operations were in compliance with bank policies/procedures and governmental regulatory requirements.
• Upon assuming this position, resolved a 6 months out of balance situation within 1 month’s time. Instituted a daily reconciliation process which prevented these problems from lasting more than 2 days.

• Sourced purchasers for $1.8 million sale of the firm’s Trust Services product line. Developed and implemented procedures to smooth transition from Royal Bank to the new entity, satisfying company’s clients and securing business for other product lines at the bank valued at $500 million.

Supervised and managed the Trust Department for the Vancouver, B.C. branch of the bank. Insured all services provided were in compliance with Company policies/procedures and governmental regulations. Liaison between local customers and the head office.
Manager, Trust Administration, 1974 – 1979
Managed department charged with overseeing Corporate Fiduciary Trust administration. Represented the bank on the interbank Committee for the Trust Companies Institute (comparable to American Bankers Association).