Stearns Bank added a specialized banking team. Based out of Denver, the team consists of Michael O’Neill and compliance managers Stacey Morgan, Paris Davis and Jeanice Varner. O’Neill will lead the team, which has more than 50 years of combined comprehensive banking expertise with more than 25 years in specialized compliance and risk mitigation.

“Michael brings with him a diverse background as a banker, regulator and strategic risk manager,” Kelly Skalicky, president amd CEO of Stearns Bank, said. “With Michael’s strong leadership and this team’s specialty certifications and expertise in private banking and risk management, this new Colorado banking group will add depth to Stearns Bank’s skilled compliance department and expand our capacity in niche markets.”

Having extensive experience in specialized risk management and compliance, such as Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), Anti-Money Laundering (AML), USA Patriot Act, Office of Foreign Assets Control, O’Neill and his team are uniquely positioned to explore new growth opportunities in industry verticals while serving the needs of Stearns Bank’s business and retail customers nationwide.

“Stacey, Paris, Jeanice and I are thrilled to join the Stearns Bank team,” O’Neill said. “We look forward to collaborating on the development of a budding market of “compliance-based” growth for Stearns. Together, we will blend our extensive experience to create, deploy and oversee high-risk banking products and services, and are ready to get the job done!”