ABOUT URSA MAJOR ASSOCIATES

Leadership in Financial
Crime Risk Management

Trusted advisor for governments and institutions

navigating complex financial crime risks.

ABOUT SANDRA GARCIA

Deep Expertise. Proven Impact.

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

She is a results-oriented executive with deep expertise in illicit finance risk management. As a senior policy advisor and then Director in the Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes, at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Sandra built and led the U.S. National Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and Proliferation Financing Risk Assessments, and Illicit Finance Strategy framework. From 2015 to 2016, she drafted, contributed to, or led more than 25 national and sectoral risk assessments and strategies on illicit finance.

During her tenure Sandra worked directly on numerous domestic rulemakings, enforcement actions, sanctions campaigns, regulatory alerts and advisories, and public-private partnerships. Sandra is recognized for building trust and partnerships with U.S. law enforcement agencies, leveraging those partnerships to improve money laundering and terrorist financing analysis and drive domestic policy reforms. This includes leading private sector engagement fostering the bilateral sharing of information on illicit finance risk.

A globally recognized expert on implementing the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Standards worldwide, Sandra spent over a decade as a key 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. She also served as a U.S. project co-chair or lead for FATF Guidance that assists countries and financial institutions with information sharing, correspondent banking, supervision and enforcement, money service businesses, real estate, the legal and accounting professions, and asset forfeiture.

Her extensive background in the FATF Mutual Evaluation process 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
    • Sanctions and regulatory policy
    • Red flag and typology development with law enforcement and supervisors
    • Public-private partnerships

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), Excellence in Management Award, and Top Team Award (2022) for the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. She was awarded Treasury’s Exceptional Service Award for distinguished service in 2026.

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE. LOCAL IMPACT.

Supporting Stronger,
More Resilient Institutions

Ursa Major Associates partners with governments and institutions to design and implement effective strategies that mitigate financial crime risks and promote transparency, security, and financial integrity.