WFG Appoints Chief Compliance Officer
January 31, 2013
Williston Financial Group, the parent company of WFG Lender Services and WFG National Title Insurance Co., has named Donald O’Neill as its chief compliance officer. O’Neill will continue to serve as executive vice president of institutional services.
As chief compliance officer, O’Neill will oversee WFG’s compliance programs. He is charged with expanding WFG’s current compliance programs to meet the stricter demands of today’s compliance environment. Included in his duties will be implementation of improved employee and title agent training, licensing, audit and programs designed to update and track adherence to the company’s policies and procedures. The position will include an emphasis on actively collaborating and communicating with customers, lenders and agents faced with new compliance requirements of the Dodd Frank Act and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
“My emphasis during 2013 will be to develop programs and implement controls which enable WFG to proactively identify and mitigate risk,” O’Neill said. “The regulatory environment our industry faces today demands an aggressive approach to compliance, and we are in a unique position to assist our customers, agents and partners in this regard as well.”
O’Neill came to WFG in June, 2012 with 30 years of experience in mortgage and real estate services most recently as chief operating officer and associate general counsel for Altisource’s Premium Title. Prior to that, O’Neill held senior management positions with national settlement services companies. For over 10 years, he served as group president and CEO for the real estate information group at one of the industry’s largest title insurance underwriters. O’Neill is licensed to practice law in Washington State and Utah, and is a member of the United State Supreme Court Bar – Washington D.C. He received his Juris Doctorate and MBA from Gonzaga University.
“WFG is extremely fortunate to have Don O’Neill, who has extensive industry and legal experience, assume the role of chief compliance officer,” said WFG President and CEO Patrick Stone. “We are acutely aware that our clients and their customers look to us for assurances that the settlement services business is conducted in a manner fully in accord with consumer finance law. Don will provide direction, oversight, education and auditing of our operations, while extending access to those programs to agents writing WFG policies.”
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