Michael O’Neill

 Michael is a Bank Operations & Compliance Executive with over 20 years of experience with specialization in financial services and regulatory compliance for community financial intuitions. Over the last two decades he has acquired a 360-degree view of the banking industry having served multiple financial institutions and technology companies as an Executive, Bank Secrecy Act / Compliance Officer, Auditor, Consultant and Federal Regulator. Additionally, he has overseen operational, lending, compliance, and Bank Secrecy Act programs at organizations both large and small and has first-hand experience in evaluating programs from the regulatory agency perspective. Moreover, he is renowned as one of the earliest architects of building compliant cannabis deposit programs in the country. 

Michael is currently the Director of Cannabis Banking Services at Stearns Bank N.A. and is their nationally recognized expert for cannabis banking and leads the specialized banking team forming the core of the bank’s new high-risk niche-market CRB “Lead with Lending” program. He has spent the last seven years concentrating on designing, deploying, and administering cannabis banking programs. Michael received his BSBA in finance from the University of Wyoming, MBA from the University of Denver. Furthermore, he is a decorated United States Navy Veteran and served honorably for almost a decade, inclusive of multiple combat tours of duty in the Middle East and Africa.