Managing Director

Howard is a managing director and founder of Prescentus. A lawyer by profession, Howard has deep managerial experience on both the legal and business sides of the electronic payments space, which he uses to help clients structure payment strategies, find strategic partners, and evaluate opportunities.

howard.herndon@prescentus.com

Managing Director

Al specializes in international trade, national security, and government investigations, offering strategic counsel to clients in the commercial and defense sectors. With over three decades of federal government service, Al has been a trusted advisor to senior leaders in the United States Army, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the Department of Defense. Al's expertise spans export controls, economic sanctions, counterthreat finance, and defense technology project strategies. Al engages each client as a true partner, learning their business to provide useful solutions for their unique challenges and opportunities.

robert.broadbent@prescentus.com

Managing Director

John is a veteran fintech professional with a broad knowledge of payment processing across many industry segments. He brings extensive experience advising retailers, restaurants and other merchants, as well as card networks, acquirers/processors, and related payment vendors.

john.romer@prescentus.com

Senior Advisor

Dr. David L. Brock is Founder of Liquid Intelligence, a next generation web platform focused on the networking between artificial intelligence’s. The technology has isolated deployments within the defense, healthcare, food and beverage, and energy industries. Prototype applications have been demonstrated in the financial, legal, retail, recruiting, manufacturing, design and logistics market sectors. Formerly Dr. Brock was a Principal Research Scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he invented the Internet of Things. He founded and led the MIT Data Center, as well as Co-Founder and Co-Directed of the Auto-ID Center (now EPCglobal, Inc. and Auto-ID Laboratories). The Data Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was charged with researching and developing the languages, protocols and technologies to seamlessly integrate data and algorithms across the global network. The Auto-ID Center was a unique partnership between over 100 global companies and six of the world's leading research universities. Previously Dr. Brock was a Research Scientist at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (AI Lab) where he founded and directed a research group focused on semi-autonomous agents within large virtual worlds for the Department of Defense. David was also Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Hangout Industries, Inc. an online 3D social networking virtual world, as well as the Founder and Chief Technology Officer of endoVia Medical, Inc., a manufacturer of computer controlled surgical and interventional devices. Dr. Brock holds Bachelor’s degrees in Theoretical Mathematics and Mechanical Engineering, as well as Masters and Ph.D. Degrees from MIT.

Senior Advisor

Hein brings a wealth of expertise and leadership to the table, with over two decades of experience in senior leadership roles within the telecommunications sector across Africa. Throughout his career, Hein has been instrumental in driving innovation and transformation, consistently delivering tangible results and leading high-performing teams to success.

His areas of expertise span technology strategy execution, lean portfolio management, digital engineering, legacy modernization, Cloud computing, and fraud management. Hein has spearheaded numerous significant initiatives, from large transformation programs, to streamlining operations and enhancing customer experiences.

He has a keen interest in understanding how to harness emerging technologies to solve real-world challenges. Specializing in technology leadership, innovation, strategy, program value management, transformation execution, and business architecture, Hein has a proven track record of driving organizational change and delivering exceptional results.

Senior Advisor

With a background in international agreement negotiation, cyber and operational military law, Danielle provides clients in the financial services and technology industries with independent legal and advisory services on corporate, national security, data privacy, and technology matters. Currently residing in Stockholm, Sweden, Danielle manages a successful practice where she drafts, reviews and negotiates corporate legal agreements and assists clients in navigating complex legal and regulatory requirements in order to make informed and compliant business decisions.

Senior Advisor

Michael Lindemann serves as a Director for Bates Group’s Fintech & Banking Compliance Practice and is a results-driven and highly experienced services professional with over 18 years of expertise in the banking and fintech sectors, adept at AML & regulatory compliance, licensing, system implementations, and program development, with comprehensive compliance expertise. His exceptional leadership skills were demonstrated during his seven-year tenure as Chief Compliance Officer for Monex USA and Monex Canada. With a background in senior positions at established institutions like Citi, Regions Financial, and Wells Fargo, he brings a wealth of knowledge and a proven track record of driving compliance initiatives. Michael holds certifications as a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) and Certified Cryptocurrency Investigator (CCI), in addition to an Executive MBA from James Madison University.

Senior Advisor

Brandi Reynolds serves as the Practice Leader and Managing Director for Bates Group’s Fintech & Banking Compliance Practice and has over 19 years of experience in the financial services industry that includes over 11 years serving as an in-house Deputy Chief Compliance Officer. Brandi has received both the Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) and Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist-Audit (CAMS-Audit) certifications. Brandi has served as outsourced Chief Compliance Officer to a variety of financial institutions, and is often sought for her extensive experience in cryptocurrency compliance, consumer protection compliance, and anti-money laundering. She has delivered efficient and effective solutions in areas of compliance program development, compliance monitoring and testing, and training. Brandi prides herself in advising companies on both the strategic side of growth and compliance as well as the intricacies of day-to-day compliance.

Senior Advisor

John Ashley serves as Managing Consultant for Bates Group’s Fintech & Banking Compliance Practice and has over 9 years of experience in financial regulatory compliance with WorldRemit Corp and Etana Trust Company. Among his accomplishments, John was responsible for securing the first ever Trust Charter issued by the State of Colorado to a digital asset custodian. John maintains extensive subject matter expertise in the unique compliance challenges faced by cryptocurrency businesses, including compliance program development, system implementation, and deep operational experience with blockchain analytics software including Chainalysis, CipherTrace, and TRM Labs. John has experience as a Compliance Officer developing compliance programs, policies, product compliance; regulatory analysis; and consumer protection programs. He also specializes in U.S. data privacy compliance and holds a CIPP/US certification from the International Association of Privacy Professionals.