Kevin Lee
About Kevin
Kevin is a Managing Director at Cygnus Compliance leading clients in the design, transformation, and validation of risk and control frameworks across global institutions. With over 15 years of experience in compliance technology, his expertise spans transaction monitoring, sanctions screening, KYC, and fraud risk management, where he brings a strategic and technology-enabled approach to program execution and regulatory readiness.
Throughout his career, Kevin has held senior advisory and leadership roles, working directly with C-suite executives at Tier 1 banks and multinational financial institutions across North America, EMEA, APAC, and LATAM. His portfolio includes clients ranging from large global banks to regional institutions operating under a wide range of regulatory frameworks and risk profiles. Kevin has led the technology workstream for the HSBC monitorship, one of the largest and most complex compliance monitorships in history, where he was responsible for guiding the development and assessment of global financial crime systems in coordination with regulatory stakeholders.
Kevin is known for his ability to align compliance strategy with business and technology objectives, delivering actionable roadmaps and sustainable solutions under heightened regulatory scrutiny. He continues to serve as a trusted advisor to financial institutions navigating large-scale program transformations, regulatory remediations, and enterprise-wide system implementations. Kevin’s peer-reviewed methodologies and leadership in cross-jurisdictional engagements have positioned him as a go-to expert in compliance technology strategy and execution.
In his free time, Kevin enjoys traveling the world with his family, learning from new cultures, and dining at interesting restaurants. Although firmly a warm weather person, his favorite trip so far is Rovaniemi, Finland during Christmas, where he did an arctic safari, experienced 22 hours a day of darkness, and met Santa. He has visited over 60 countries and aspires to visit them all one day.
Education
B.E. Information Engineering, Cornell University
Tools
- Actimize
- AmLock (Azentio)
- Abrigo (BAM+)
- Bridger
- eGifts
- Fircosoft/Acquity
- FISERV FCRM
- Global Vision
- Norkom/Detica
- Oracle FCCM
- FIS – Prime
- SAS
- RegTechOne
- Verafin
- Proprietary/Custom homegrown/ML System
Expertise
Regulatory Risk & Compliance
-
Model risk is a critical subset of operational risk. Unvalidated or poorly calibrated models can lead to compliance failures, missed risk signals, and failed exams. Our validation services help financial institutions meet OCC, FRB, and FDIC expectations while enhancing model performance across AML, sanctions, fraud, and CRR domains.
-
Even high-performing models degrade over time. At Cygnus Compliance, we help institutions tune and optimize their monitoring and CRR systems to reduce false positives, sharpen detection, and align with shifting business and regulatory needs.
-
We guide institutions through the full lifecycle of implementing and optimizing AML, fraud, and case management platforms ensuring your RegTech investment is operationally sound and regulator-ready.
-
We deliver comprehensive, data-driven risk assessments that help institutions identify vulnerabilities, evaluate controls, and satisfy regulatory expectations. Our assessments inform practical, risk-based strategies that enhance program effectiveness.
-
Cygnus Compliance Care delivers on-demand regulatory support for critical initiatives, without requiring permanent hires. We embed experienced professionals to support audits, tune systems, clear backlogs, and strengthen compliance operations.
-
We help institutions manage alert volume, improve triage, and enhance investigations through intelligent automation and deep compliance expertise. Our managed services reduce false positives, increase efficiency, and deliver regulator-ready outcomes.
Technology Consulting
Advisory & Consulting
-
We help institutions transition to cloud environments that are secure, scalable, and compliant.
-
Modernize legacy systems and adopt new technologies to meet evolving business and compliance requirements.
-
Strengthen your security posture with a proactive, risk-based approach to technology.
-
Understand, evaluate, and implement blockchain technologies where it adds value.
-
Securely harness the value of connected devices in financial operations.
Product Engineering & Development
-
We translate business and regulatory requirements into functional, user-centric products with compliance controls embedded at every stage.
-
Whether launching a new RegTech tool or modernizing an internal platform, we manage full-cycle implementation.
-
We ensure new tools integrate with your environment, users, and workflows—maximizing adoption and value.
Expertise
Cyber Security
-
Timely and coordinated incident response is critical to maintaining business continuity and regulatory compliance. We develop tailored incident response plans, simulate cyberattack scenarios, and support forensic analysis and breach containment when every second counts.
-
We implement data-centric protection strategies that secure sensitive information and support compliance with GLBA, CCPA, GDPR, and other regulatory frameworks.
-
We help institutions design cloud architectures that prioritize security and regulatory compliance, including risk assessments and remediation of misconfigurations.
-
We build identity governance frameworks that enforce least privilege, mitigate insider threats, and strengthen audit readiness.
-
We build identity governance frameworks that enforce least privilege, mitigate insider threats, and strengthen audit readiness.
Data Engineering & Analytics
-
We develop and operationalize governance programs that establish data ownership, standardization, and defensibility supporting both day-to-day operations and regulatory exams.
-
We design AI/ML models to automate triage, enhance detection, and reduce analyst fatigue while maintaining explainability, traceability, and compliance with model governance frameworks.
-
We design and implement dynamic dashboards to support transparency, stakeholder engagement, and audit readiness across compliance domains.
-
We build normalized, regulator-aligned data models that support investigations, long-term trend analysis, and audit traceability.
-
We implement data control mechanisms that continuously monitor quality and alert stakeholders to anomalies before they affect operations or reporting.
-
Our dashboards visualize KPIs, KRIs, and risk trends across AML, fraud, sanctions, and KYC domains supporting board reporting and internal audit.
-
Timely and coordinated incident response is critical to maintaining business continuity and regulatory compliance. We develop tailored incident response plans, simulate cyberattack scenarios, and support forensic analysis and breach containment when every second counts.
-
We enhance your surveillance and onboarding programs with enriched, behavior-informed customer profiles that integrate internal and external data.

