Treliant Risk Advisors Continues to Draw Industry Notables

Jo Ann Barefoot Joins Treliant As Co-Chair

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Treliant Risk Advisors LLC, a compliance and strategic advisory firm specializing in the financial services industry, announced today that Jo Ann Barefoot, former Deputy Comptroller of the Currency and partner at the global consulting firm KPMG, has joined Treliant Risk Advisors as Co-Chair. Ms. Barefoot brings with her to Treliant her extensive consulting practice advising many of the nation’s largest banks, a broad cross section of community banks and other leading financial services companies on a wide range of strategic issues.

“Treliant’s rapid growth as a leading financial services risk management and compliance firm is a direct result of our ability to build a team consisting of the most capable and experienced industry and regulatory experts,” said Andrew L. Sandler, Chief Executive Officer of Treliant Risk Advisors. “Having Jo Ann Barefoot join us in a key leadership position is a transformational event for our organization and will significantly enhance our capabilities in assisting our clients to meet the significant consumer compliance and fair lending challenges ahead.”

“I have known and worked with Treliant’s executives and professionals for years and am enormously excited at the opportunity to help lead the organization as it guides its many clients through today’s unprecedented regulatory and market challenges,” said Ms. Barefoot. “The financial crisis and regulatory overhaul will profoundly alter how the industry designs and delivers services to financial consumers. Treliant’s team of industry experts goes beyond identifying problems to focus uniquely on helping clients craft and implement creative solutions. I am delighted to be able to bring my thriving compliance practice into Treliant as the firm rapidly expands its capabilities and client base.”

In 2000, Ms. Barefoot founded Jo Ann Barefoot & Company, providing compliance strategy and risk management consulting for financial service companies. The firm serves a spectrum of clients from international institutions to community banks. From 1996 to 2000, Ms. Barefoot was a Partner and Managing Director at KPMG Consulting, a global management and technology firm. There she headed KPMG’s financial industry consulting practice for consumer and community issues. She later led a nationwide retail bank advisory team and headed the firm’s privacy consulting initiative. She also served as the Midwest leader of KPMG’s overall banking practice.

From 1982 to 1996, Ms. Barefoot was president and CEO of Barefoot Marrinan & Associates, developing it into one of the country’s premier banking compliance firms.

In 1978, Ms. Barefoot became the first woman Deputy Comptroller of the Currency. She built the OCC’s first consumer compliance department, leading the examination and enforcement process for consumer, civil rights, and community reinvestment laws. She later oversaw Congressional, news media, and interagency relationships, including the OCC’s work with the FDIC, for which the Comptroller serves as a director.

Ms. Barefoot has served as an advisor to bank regulatory agencies, trained federal examiners, and testified before Congress. She was the principal author of Common Ground, a widely-reported study on the costs and burdens of bank regulation published by the University of Wisconsin. She is a frequent speaker and media source on financial issues, has authored four books on bank regulation and over 150 articles.

“Jo Ann is not just an expert in her field, she is a thought leader in the industry,” said Jeremiah S. Buckley, President of Treliant Risk Advisors. “She is well-known for her experience and industry insights,” Mark W. Olson, Co-Chair of Treliant added, “Jo Ann’s experience well complements that of our senior leadership team. With Jo Ann on board, we are even better able to help our clients meet the compliance and strategic challenges facing the financial services industry.”

About Treliant Risk Advisors LLC

Treliant Risk Advisors, headquartered in Washington, DC (with offices in New York and Los Angeles scheduled to open this month), is a multi-disciplinary consulting, compliance, and strategic advisory firm for the financial services industry. With a strong team of highly experienced executives who have held senior leadership positions in Fortune 100 companies, financial institutions, and regulatory agencies, Treliant Risk Advisors provides its clients with critical compliance, risk management, and business advice and solutions. Services include: crisis and risk management, regulatory compliance, business consulting, acquisition strategy, corporate governance, due diligence, portfolio evaluation, financial analysis, and litigation expert sourcing. For more information, visit www.treliant.com.