Debra Geister’s Bio

Debra Geister is the Manager and CEO of Section 2 Financial Intelligence Solutions. Section 2 or S2, is focused exclusively on understanding the patterns of behavior in regard to financial crime and money laundering by transnational criminal organizations. To that end, S2 works with the public and private sectors to train systems and staff on how to clearly detect the “hybrid threat.” 

Ms. Geister’s experience includes 15 years in a leadership role in banking compliance. Previously, she was the Managing Director at Matrix-International Financial Services and Manager at Navigator Consulting Group. She also spent three years at MetaBank as Senior Vice President, leading the combined Fraud and Bank Secrecy Act(BSA) Unit. She built a successful team to lead the organization out of a cease and desist order.

For 10 years prior, Ms. Geister was Senior Director of Consulting Services at LexisNexis Risk Solutions. She developed processes to assist clients with operations such as sanctions screening, assisting with OFAC, PEP, 314a and other global sanction lists. Prior to direct client work, Debra Geister was responsible for a line of AML and Fraud products that served the financial industry as the Director of  Market Planning. She has extensive experience with the technologies and design behind many of the products that support the Financial Services industries and all areas of AML including, customer information programs, sanctions compliance, customer due diligence, and transaction monitoring and investigations.

Mrs. Geister often speaks at global events within the industry.  She is also a member of American Bankers Association, ACAMS, and ACFCS. She was a member of the Advisory board of the Regulatory Compliance Conference of the American Bankers Association and volunteers her time at events on the AML industry. She works closely with law enforcement agencies on subjects such as identifying typologies and the hallmarks of different financial crime patterns.