BIS’s Axelrod makes plea to financial services: ‘We want to work with you’

To a room full of risk and compliance practitioners from the financial services industry, Matthew Axelrod posed a simple question: “Why am I here today?”

The assistant secretary for export enforcement holds a high-profile role at the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), yet many in the room were likely unfamiliar with him and the agency’s work. Export controls aren’t typically high on the radar of the highly regulated financial services space.

Axelrod made the case that attitude should change during a fireside chat Tuesday at Compliance Week’s Financial Crimes and Regulatory Compliance Summit in New York.