WesBanco

With over two decades of hands-on experience in the banking industry, Aaron Rykowski is a diversified and dynamic risk manager specializing in consumer compliance. He is a commissioned compliance examiner (FDIC - 2010) and a Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager (CRCM - 2012). Currently, he holds the position of SVP and CCO at WesBanco, where his responsibilities entail designing compliance risk assessments, managing consumer regulatory complaints, exam management, , and ensuring compliance with Fair Lending, UDAAP, and consumer protection laws and regulations. 

Please tell our readers about your key roles and responsibilities at WesBanco.

As the Chief Compliance Officer at WesBanco, I am responsible for overseeing all compliance-related functions within the organization. This includes banking compliance, consumer compliance, fair lending, unfair and deceptive acts and practices, responsible banking, mortgage lending, deposits, consumer lending, and more. Additionally, I oversee the compliance functions for our Wealth Management division. I am also involved in managing our privacy program and regulatory affairs, working closely with our regulatory manager. My key roles and responsibilities involve managing and ensuring compliance with all relevant regulations and policies across the organization.

Can you describe some of the challenges and trends you have observed that are impacting this sector?

The biggest challenge and trend impacting the space is the ever-evolving regulatory environment. During the past several years, there has been a surge of interpretive guidance and advisory opinions that established new expectations or changed long-standing interpretations by other agencies. This has forced the industry to adapt and change its practices quickly. Compliance professionals must be vigilant in constantly evaluating their practices to stay out of the crosshairs of regulatory scrutiny.

"Compliance professionals must be vigilant in constantly evaluating their practices to stay out of the crosshairs of regulatory scrutiny."

How do you envision the future of the space?

In terms of the future of the industry, I see a lot of technological changes on the horizon, particularly in the compliance space. There will be greater use of workflows, OCR and document reading technology to automate review processes and reduce the number of manual reviews. This will allow compliance professionals to focus on analyzing data and problem-solving rather than verifying data integrity. Further, with the current economic and inflationary environment, the industry will have to find ways to meet regulatory, shareholder, and management expectations as efficiently as possible.

Can you share any project that you have been working on recently?

Recently, our organization upgraded our core banking software system. This effort impacted every aspect of our organization, from risk management to operations to retail employees in the field. Our goal was to upgrade our technology to add additional capabilities and services, improve efficiencies, and minimize errors, which helps to reduce the overall risk to the bank and minimize the impact on customers. However, as the financial services industry leverages more automation, quality control and validation become even more important, and we have ensured this by maintaining a focus on continual monitoring, testing, and verification to ensure the system works as intended.

What will be your advice to your peers and colleagues?

My advice to my peers and colleagues would be to truly understand that growth and revenue are essential for a company's success. It is important to find solutions that allow the business to achieve its goals while staying within the necessary guardrails. However, there are times when certain activities pose unnecessary risks, and it is important to be able to say ‘no’ in those situations. As a partner to the business, I suggest being involved in the design and development process, offering ideas and solutions from the beginning, and not just being a stamp of approval at the end. By being involved at the ground level, it is easier to design effective controls and avoid inheriting issues that need to be cleaned up in the future.