ACAMS Pittsburgh Chapter May 2026 Event: Debanking Isn’t a Strategy: FinCEN FAQs, the AML Program Rule, and What Comes Next

Kurt Helwig is Vice President and AML Sanctions Group Manager on the AML Risk Business Advisory team. In this capacity, he provides advisory support and oversight, along with payments and federal payments policy expertise and analysis to senior leadership, enterprise advisory and core PNC business lines while evaluating products and services for potential AML/BSA risk. He has conducted comprehensive AML Risk Assessments on digital currency and PNCs Acquiring Bin Sponsorship Program.  He also serves as PNCs AML/BSA liaison within the VISA Compliance office and represents PNC in the Bank Policy Institute's AML/CFT Executive Forum. 
 
Prior to joining PNC, Kurt served as President and CEO of the Electronic Funds Transfer Association, a national, payments focused trade association dedicated to advancing electronic payments and commerce. In that role for over 2 decades, he advised member banks, payments companies, Federal Agencies and Congressional offices on a broad array of leading-edge payments related issues and policies and their implications for financial institutions, payments businesses and consumers. A former registered federal lobbyist, he advocated or opposed significant legislation and regulation in the payments space and was often called upon to testify before Congress on same. 
 
Kurt is an active member of the Bank Policy Institute's (BPI) AML/CFT Forum, a certified cryptocurrency risk specialist and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Belmont Abbey College.

Jared is a Director in KPMG's Financial Crimes practice based in New York City. He has 12 years of experience in financial crimes compliance, including assessing and advising a variety of clients—from global financial institutions to financial technology companies. He is a former anti-money laundering (AML)/countering the financing of terrorism (CFT) and sanctions compliance expert at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the U.S. Department of the Treasury. At the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Jared was a Senior Regulations Advisor and helped lead AML/CFT regime modernization efforts; he was responsible for drafting rulemakings, exceptive relief, or administrative rulings to enable innovative approaches to compliance with—or clarification of—the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA).
 

Jim is a Managing Director in PwC’s Financial Crimes Unit - AML & Sanctions Offering.  He has over eighteen experience, with over fourteen years of leadership roles, in various AML and Sanctions matters, including the drafting of responses and action plans in response to regulatory enforcement  actions, the development of KYC standards, AML investigations, the improvement of customer risk rating systems and procedures, the analysis of transaction monitoring systems, program assessments, and improvements and the development and implementation of policies and procedures.

Jim has moderated or served as a panelist for events such as the ACAMS Las Vegas Assembly, the ACAMS Greater Philadelphia Chapter One Day Symposium, the New York Bankers Association Business of Banking Conference and the Global Gaming Expo (G2E). While at PwC, Jim has been a leader of our internal Roundtables series, including serving as a founder and  long-time moderator of the AML Investigations and CDD Roundtables, respectively. Jim has also led multiple go-to-market activities for the FCU, including webinars jointly executed with  large international law firms on regulatory updates, including the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (AMLA).

Prior to joining PwC, Jim served in financial crimes leadership positions at JPMorgan Chase and Citibank. Jim received his JD from Georgetown University Law Center and is licensed to practice law in New York. Jim completed his undergraduate education at the College of the Holy Cross.

Rachele Byrne is a Senior Vice President and AML Group Manager on the AML Governance & Programs team. In her role, Rachele and her team are responsible for providing oversight and governance for PNC’s enterprise BSA/AML Program, including AML policies and procedures, the BSA/AML and Sanctions Risk Committee, and other key governance forums and activities.

Rachele joined PNC in March 2022. Prior to joining PNC, Rachele had over 13 years of industry experience in financial crimes compliance and risk management. Rachele has held AML Advisory and governance management positions at several large U.S. and foreign financial institutions in her career, as well as worked as a consultant advising both private sector and government clients on financial crimes related matters.

Rachele earned a Bachelor’s of Arts in English Language & Literature from the University of Virginia. She is a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) and an anti-financial crimes (AFC) expert who speaks at various AFC industry events and conferences. She is also a Board Member and Social Media Chair of the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS) U.S. Capital Chapter in Washington, DC.