Robert Brenner

Global Co-Managing Partner and Chief Risk Officer

New York

Robert Brenner, global co-managing partner and chief risk officer at K2 Integrity, has more than 25 years of experience advising government and private-sector clients as a monitor, investigator, and consultant. His expertise encompasses compliance and integrity issues; cross-border investigations; and corruption, anti-money laundering (AML), bribery, fraud, and risk matters. Bob leads large monitorships and complex corporate investigations for companies across a spectrum of industries—including financial services, energy, pharmaceuticals, construction, and real estate—as well as for nonprofit organizations. He is often called upon to provide C-suite consulting for Fortune 500 companies as well as some of the world’s largest hedge funds and asset managers on matters involving regulatory compliance, pre-transactional due diligence, corporate contests and proxy fights, investment decision making, merger integration, and the likely impacts and risks of litigation.

Bob has been appointed and currently serves as a monitor or independent consultant on behalf of federal, state, and local government agencies as well as international regulatory bodies, including the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), and the French Prudential Resolution Authority (ACPR). These engagements involve multiyear reviews of global Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), and/or Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)/AML compliance policies and practices, as well as reviews of procedures related to the reporting of internal fraud and embezzlement. Bob’s consultancy experience extends to a governance committee role at a major asset management fund where he provided monthly strategic advisory services on a variety of risk issues from 2015 to 2021.

Bob and his team also design and implement changes to clients’ compliance procedures, risk assessment processes, training protocols, and technology, to close loopholes and provide more robust monitoring of future transactions and conduct. The investigations and reviews Bob conducts on behalf of public and private entities often uncover and remedy deficiencies or misconduct, resulting in millions of dollars in savings.

In his role as global co-managing partner and chief risk officer of K2 Integrity, Bob sets and drives the implementation of client and market strategy in collaboration with the CEO and senior leadership, and he oversees legal and risk issues for the firm.

Prior to joining K2 Integrity, Bob was senior managing director and practice leader of Kroll’s Investigations and Disputes Group, Americas.

A former prosecutor and First Deputy Commissioner in New York City, Bob is an experienced trial attorney and investigator. He supervised investigations into fraud, waste, corruption, and mismanagement in New York City agencies for the Special Commissioner of Investigations. Prior to that, Bob served as senior investigative and trial counsel in the New York County District Attorney’s office, and as a Special Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, prosecuting organized crime and political corruption matters.

Bob received his J.D. from the Washington College of Law at American University and his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, and completed the Harvard Business School executive education program “Leading Professional Service Organizations.” He is admitted to practice law in New York and the District of Columbia. In 2020-2022, Bob was recognized as one of the 100 leading legal consultants and strategists by Lawdragon, which highlights the experts most valued by global law firm leaders.

Representative Matters

Regulatory Compliance Monitoring: Bob has worked as an “independent monitor” for two separate global financial institutions as part of their settlements of OFAC enforcement actions brought by the Federal Reserve and the New York State Department of Financial Services. He has led teams that conducted reviews of global OFAC policies and procedures and recommended remedial steps.

In one case, after an initial review, Bob and his team reported to regulators on identified deficiencies and provided recommendations for improvement. Those recommendations included changes in the organizational structure of the compliance group, the establishment of global standards for OFAC compliance, revisions to the risk assessment process, upgrades to the training and investigations protocols and technology upgrades to improve the wire screening process. Thereafter, Bob and his team monitored implementation and conducted risk-focused sampling of wire payments to assure proper handling. In another case, Bob’s team conducted a global review of remediation efforts instituted as a result of a consent order.

Internal Investigations: Bob led an investigation into mismanagement and financial impropriety at a nationally recognized charity that resulted in a complete overhaul of the organization and the eventual criminal conviction of the executive director and her husband for embezzling several million dollars.

Fraud and Detection: During the construction of the world headquarters of a major financial institution and the construction of a major sports stadium, Bob provided construction monitoring and fraud prevention services. In the first instance, more than $15 million in demonstrable savings was produced, and in the latter, investigators uncovered a bribery scheme instituted to divert contracts to firms using non-union labor.

Corporate Investigations: When the pharmaceutical industry’s sales practices were suspect, Bob conducted investigations that confirmed certain pharmaceutical companies were making payments to doctors for prescribing medications.

Due Diligence: Bob has directed custom investigations for numerous hedge funds seeking alternative research in support of their investment decision-making. He has developed intelligence that informed clients as to the likely impact of litigation, regulations, and government investigations. In addition, he assessed the progress of merger integrations and the status of intellectual property.

Note: This list includes engagements completed prior to joining K2 Integrity.