Regulatory Strategy

Irena is a principal in Deloitte & Touche LLP’s US Banking and Securities Regulatory practice with experience in providing clients assistance with regulatory, governance, compliance, risk management, and operational controls issues. She leads many of Deloitte’s large-scale, multiyear implementation, transformation, and remediation projects in the areas of governance, risk management, compliance, and bank operating models. Irena also serves as the leader of the US Financial Services Industry Center for Regulatory Strategy, administering Deloitte’s eminence, points of view, and tracking of regulatory developments. Prior to Deloitte, she worked as a commissioned senior examiner and relationship manager for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Jim Eckenrode is managing director at the Deloitte Center for Financial Services, responsible for developing and executing Deloitte’s research agenda, while providing insights to leading financial institutions on business and technology strategy.

Banking Professional with over 16 years of successful experience of increasing responsibility and duties. Top-performer with track record of exceeding the expectations of management and clients. Skilled at designing, developing, and implementing compliance risk management programs for banking organizations aligned to rules, laws and regulations, and industry leading practices. Team player with polished communication skills; verbal, written, interpersonal and rapport building. Technically proficient in Microsoft Office: Word, Excel, Visio, PowerPoint, Access and Outlook.

Tim is a former insurance executive and a member of Deloitte’s Insurance Industry Executive Leadership team while also leading the Regulatory, Risk, and Forensics Practice. Tim’s efforts include assisting insurance companies with complex risk, regulatory, operational, and compliance issues. His practice specializes in the design; implementation; and assessment of compliance, risk, and legal operating models focused on predicting, preserving, and responding to risks as well as enhancing their overall efficiency and effectiveness through the use of technology and analytics.

Tim has nearly 35 years of extensive insurance experience, which includes more than 15 years at Progressive Insurance Company where he served as chief compliance officer, focusing on the design, development, and implementation of its Compliance program.

Tim is a CPA licensed in the state of Ohio and received a bachelor of business administration in accounting from John Carroll University as well as an Executive MBA from Stanford.

Maria leads Deloitte’s Regulatory Remediation practice for financial services and has more than 25 years of experience in financial services. Maria focuses on regulatory and compliance matters for Deloitte’s investment management and wealth clients, including in connection with regulatory investigations on a multitude of issues such as sales practices, conflicts of interest, and fee billing practices. 

Representative engagements include large-scale remediation projects involving forensic and data analysis; calculating investor harm; rule implementation (including Reg BI, DOL, and the new rules applicable to mutual funds); risk assessments; and performing gap analyses against regulatory requirements and controls assessments, including in connection with SEC enforcement actions and deficiency letters and FINRA investigations. She also has assisted clients with assessing legal and compliance departments for efficiencies and modernization, impact analyses of structuring alternatives around different operating models, mock exams, and regulatory analytics. 

In her prior role as outside counsel, she has gained significant experience in federal securities laws, including advising on the creation and operation of open-end and closed-end funds, ETFs, business development companies, hedge funds, and managed account platforms as well as on transactional matters such as fund mergers, fund adoptions, and adviser acquisitions. She has advised clients on a broad range of topics, including with respect to regulatory, compliance, and fund governance matters. Additionally, Maria is a former M&A attorney. Prior to joining Deloitte, Ms. Gattuso was most recently a partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP. Prior to that, she was a partner at Shearman & Sterling LLP.

Joshua is a managing director in Deloitte’s financial services practice with more than 15 years of experience and specializes in advising broker-dealers and registered investment advisors on regulatory and business operations topics. Including sales practices, advisory services, supervision, trading, technology and operational organizational structures.