Since the enactment of Sarbanes Oxley Act and related, broad changes to the U.S. Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations, Rick has designed and implemented start-up compliance programs for several multi-national corporations, designing programs for employees and executives in over 50 countries. His body of work includes creating ethics and compliance programs, whistleblower systems, regulatory compliance programs, enterprise risk management systems, corporate governance charters and reporting procedures, targeted training and awareness programs, and education for boards of directors and executives on ethics and leadership.

Rick has worked as a Senior Advisor for FTI Consulting, and founded Lexakos Consulting LLC, a leading legal business consulting firm specializing in designing governance, regulatory and corporate compliance, and risk management practices for public, private and non-profit organizations. Following the financial crisis, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York engaged Rick to serve as a special compliance advisor, where he handled a variety of critical assignments, including revisions to the central bank’s BSA/AML and OFAC Sanctions compliance policies and procedures.

Rick is also the former Chief Ethics Officer of HSBC North America, Inc., where he developed a comprehensive ethics program for the US-based subsidiary of one of the largest banks in the world and helped lead a team that formulated a global whistleblower system for managing global financial crime risk and early fraud detection. Rick earlier served as Senior Vice President — Legal and Head of Global Compliance at Cendant Corporation, where he was a managing lawyer and the multinational corporation’s first compliance and information governance executive. His vertical industry expertise includes financial services, health care, franchising, chemical, petroleum, automotive and non-profits.

Rick was recently appointed to the member consultative team for the upcoming Restatement on Corporate Governance, published by the American Law Institute (ALI), where he has been a member since 2007, and the ALI Principles of the Law, Compliance, Risk Management, and Enforcement. He is also the former president and board chairman of the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Greater New York Chapter, where he directly succeeded then general counsel of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and then general counsel of the Port Authority of NY & NJ. He has also served as a certified mediator for the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey and to the Panel of Distinguished Neutrals for the CPR International Institute for Conflict Resolution, where he has officiated over commercial mediation and arbitration.

Rick is a frequent lecturer on topics of governance, risk management and compliance and has been a featured speaker and subject matter expert for organizations such as The Conference Board, Compliance Week, Practising Law Institute, American Bar Association, and ARMA International, among others.

Rick began his career as an attorney at LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae, and Pitney, Hardin, Kipp & Szuch (now Day Pitney). He earned a B.A. from Stockton University and a J.D. from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, where he was an editor on Washington University Law Review.