Core Competencies

• Acumen for investigative research in Portuguese, Spanish and English, using open and proprietary sources of information in Latin America, the US and other jurisdictions;
• Subject matter expertise on environmental and social risks (ESR) related to agriculture and other land-intensive industries, and how these relate to reputation and financial crimes risks;
• Strong writing and editing skills;
• Enthusiastic self-starter and team player;
• Cultural and language fluency in Brazil.

Professional

July 2021 – Present

UBS, Weehawken, New Jersey (currently fully remote)

Associate Director, Client Intelligence Group

• Research and write deep-dive due diligence reports on current and potential clients, to evaluate the reputation and financial crimes risks that they pose to the firm;
• Integrate adverse media and online searches with the firm’s information on client accounts, transactions and suspicious activity reports (SARs);
• Work to incorporate an ESR perspective into CIG’s work, including developing targeted search strings and a list of resources, and raising awareness of how ESR intersect with geopolitical risks (migration);
• Respond to escalations and ad-hoc requests as received, often with quick turnaround times.

December 2019 – June 2021

MUFG Union Bank, N.A., Jersey City, New Jersey

KYC Onboarding Officer

• Undertook onboarding and periodic reviews of foreign financial institution clients;
• Responded to a federal consent order to remediate and uplift Know Your Customer (KYC) and compliance documentation and processes for clients;
• Interfaced and collaborate with front office bankers, relationship managers, second line of defense and other stakeholders.

June 2017 – November 2019

Dow Jones, Princeton, New Jersey

Due Diligence Research Editor

• Integral member of the company’s due diligence team for Latin America;
• Conducted due diligence investigations and wrote Risk Reports on companies and individuals in Portuguese-, Spanish- and English-speaking jurisdictions;
• Developed subject matter expertise on open and proprietary sources of information in different jurisdictions throughout the Americas;
• Selected to work on several key projects on high-profile subjects;
• Research with Sayari, LexisNexis, CLEAR, Westlaw and Dow Jones Risk & Compliance Database;
• Create search strings and use Boolean operators to perform extensive adverse media research using Factiva and Google.

July 2006 – June 2017

Consultant, Brazil and US

• • 2007 Recipient of the Samuel Chavkin Investigative Journalism Award from the North American Congress on Latin America;
  • Research and writing on land use, agriculture, conflicts over land and natural resources, and the social and environmental impacts of these;
  • Wrote, edited and published investigative journalism articles, letters to the editor, press releases, policy documents, and other online and print media;
  • Undertook primary and secondary research in English and Portuguese, including interviewing in-person and by phone/internet;
  • Cultivated sources with various sectors of society, including small farmers, indigenous communities, social movements, NGO workers, corporate executives and politicians, federal and local politicians;
  • Translation, transcription and interpretation.

Sept. 2002 – June 2006

University of California Small Farm Program, Davis, California

Specialist

Education

Federal University of Paraná, Brazil

• Portuguese for Foreigners, Center for Languages and Multiculturalism.

University of California at Davis, US

• Master of Science (MSc.), sustainable rural development;
• Master’s thesis research on land redistribution projects on export-oriented wine and fruit farms in the Western Cape of South Africa;

Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, US

• Bachelor of Arts (BA), journalism & anthropology
• Anthropology honors thesis on World Bank -inspired land redistribution project in South Africa;
• Final semester at the University of Natal in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.

Languages

English (native speaker); Brazilian Portuguese (fluent); Spanish (working knowledge).

Other

• Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist;
• Certified 200-hour Vinyasa yoga teacher.