WASHINGTON, DC – The Atlantic Council today announced that senior vice president and anti-money laundering (AML) executive for sanctions at BB&T Bank, Brian O’Toole, has been appointed as a nonresident senior fellow with the Global Business & Economics Program. Brian is an accomplished expert on economic sanctions, with substantial experience in both the public and private sectors.

“Brian joins us at an exciting time as we take our Economic Sanctions Initiative to the next level,” said Andrea Montanino, Director of the Global Business and Economics Program. “He brings with him a wealth of experience from both the public and private sectors and we look forward to working with Brian to forge a path toward more effective economic sanctions.”

In his current capacity with BB&T, Brian oversees the bank’s sanctions compliance efforts, including standardized screening processes across several dozen lines of business. Previously, Brian worked at the US Department of the Treasury from 2009 to 2017. During his time at the Treasury, Brian became a senior adviser to the director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). He played a central role in constructing the US sanctions regime in response to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and was a key figure in implementing US government commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran. Prior to joining OFAC, Brian served as an illicit finance analyst for both the Treasury Department’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis and at the Central Intelligence Agency, and was an anticorruption specialist in the forensic services practice at PwC.

“I am thrilled to join the Atlantic Council in the Global Business & Economics Program and have the chance to work alongside such distinguished colleagues,” said O’Toole.  “The work of the Atlantic Council has never been more important in these tumultuous times, and I look forward to being able to contribute to the debate surrounding the use of financial sanctions as a tool of foreign policy, and more broadly, on the intersection of business and economics with national and global security.”

For questions or to interview Brian O’Toole, please contact press@atlanticcouncil.org or 202-778-4993. 

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