Bart Mierzejewski

Background

About Bart Mierzejewski

I build and lead compliance programs that protect institutions, satisfy regulators, and scale with the business. With 15+ years across banking, fintech, and digital assets — spanning Morgan Stanley, Payoneer, Uphold, and high-growth payments companies and private equity firms — I've operated at the intersection of financial crime risk and operational execution. My focus: AML/BSA/OFAC program governance, KYC/CDD/EDD infrastructure, regulatory examination management, and the cross-functional leadership it takes to make compliance a competitive business asset, not a cost center. My unique experiences and distinct roles bring: → Regulatory credibility. Primary liaison to the Fed, OCC, FinCEN, and FDIC. Directed enterprise-wide remediation in response to a formal Consent Order. Led FCA crypto-license submissions and independent audit engagements. → Program ownership. Built AML/BSA/OFAC programs from the ground up — risk assessments, policies, transaction monitoring, SAR committees, model validation, and Board reporting — at institutions ranging from global banks to BaaS-first fintechs. → Operational scale. Managed a 125-person outsourced 1LOD compliance operation across the U.S. and Philippines. Restructured 1LOD/2LOD frameworks that cut operational gaps by 35%. Streamlined onboarding from 30 days to 8 without sacrificing standards. → Business impact.$720K in efficiency savings from onboarding and payment review optimization.$6M in annual vendor cost savings through team restructuring. 40% reduction in process inefficiencies across compliance operations. I'm most effective in environments where the compliance program needs to grow fast, recover from regulatory scrutiny, or build credibility with a board that expects more than checkbox governance. MBA, NYU Stern. CAMS certified.