Sandra Garcia - Bio

Sandra is CEO of Ursa Major Associates, a financial crimes risk management firm. She is an anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) and sanctions expert with 15 years of policy and legal experience.

Sandra is a results-oriented executive with deep expertise in illicit finance risk management. While serving at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, she established and led the U.S. National Illicit Finance Risk Assessment and Strategy framework. From 2015 to 2026, she managed the production of over 25 national and sectoral risk assessment products and developed strategies to mitigate risk including enforcement responses, regulatory reforms, and public awareness campaigns.

A globally recognized expert on implementing the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Standards worldwide, Sandra spent over a decade as a member of the U.S. delegation to the FATF. Her leadership includes co-chairing the inaugural FATF Virtual Asset Contact Group, where she oversaw the global rollout of revised standards for virtual assets, tracked emerging threats, and strengthened public-private cooperation.

Her extensive background in FATF Mutual Evaluations spans the fourth and fifth assessment rounds. Sandra served as a lead coordinator for the 2016 U.S. Mutual Evaluation and manager for the 2026 assessment. Additionally, she served as a targeted financial sanctions and policy assessor for India's 2024 evaluation and as an expert reviewer for Mexico in 2021.

Sandra’s comprehensive expertise includes:
● National and sectoral illicit finance risk assessments
● FATF Standards implementation and mutual evaluations
● Bank Secrecy Act and OFAC/economic sanctions
● Banking, securities, and money service businesses
● Real estate, casinos, and beneficial ownership
● Attorneys, accountants, and trusts
● Digital assets and emerging technologies
● Fraud, money laundering, terrorism, and WMD proliferation financing
● Targeted financial sanctions and asset forfeiture

She is a frequent speaker domestically and globally on money laundering, terrorist financing, and weapons of mass destruction proliferation financing risks, U.S. authorities and regulations, and the FATF standards and mutual evaluation process.

Sandra holds a J.D. from the Catholic University of America and a B.A. from the University of Georgia, where she serves on the Board of Visitors for the School of Public and International Affairs. She is the recipient of the Stuart Levey Award (2024) and the Excellence in Management Award (2022) for the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.