28-year veteran of financial services risk management to lead the Financial Institution Shared Assessments Program
August 30, 2006 – Santa Fe, NM – Catherine A. Allen, founding chairman and CEO of New Mexico-based consultancy The Santa Fe Group, today announced the addition of Michele Edson to The Santa Fe Group staff. Ms. Edson will serve as senior vice president, reporting directly to Ms. Allen.
Ms. Edson’s primary role will be leading the Financial Institution Shared Assessments Program. Launched by nonprofit financial services industry association BITS in February, the Financial Institution Shared Assessments Program introduces unprecedented efficiencies and cost savings to the service provider security assessment process.
Since its introduction, more than 30 financial institutions and service providers have joined the Shared Assessments Program.
Ms. Edson will also lend her expertise to The Santa Fe Group Fraud Practice, providing strategic consulting for executives on issues related to risk management and fraud reduction.
A risk professional with more than 28 years of banking and fraud experience, Ms. Edson most recently served as a senior executive with Carreker Corporation. Prior to Carreker, she was a vice president and corporate officer with Primary Payments Systems, Inc. (PPS). Michele’s responsibilities at PPS included managing the Customer Relations and Risk Management teams.
Ms. Edson’s career history also includes branch operations with Wells Fargo, Northern California S&L, Great Western (now Washington Mutual), and Household Credit Services (now HSBC), where she managed various areas in fraud prevention and information security.Serving C-level clients through briefings, workshops and other forums, The Santa Fe Group is a strategic partner and preferred provider to BITS, a Washington, DC financial services industry association, of which Ms. Allen is CEO. Other partners are former White House cybersecurity advisor Richard A. Clarke and his consulting firm Good Harbor Consulting LLC. MacLean Risk Partners, launched last year by former Bank of America corporate information security officer and renowned information security expert Rhonda MacLean, is also a partner to The Santa Fe Group.
The Santa Fe Group administrates the Financial Institution Shared Assessments Program for BITS under an exclusive agreement between the two organizations. For more information about the program, see www.bitsinfo.org/fisap.