Clay Bethune

Institutional asset management specializing in fixed income strategies, liquidity solutions and deposit products for short to intermediate terms. Focused market sectors include: municipalities, healthcare organizations, higher education, nonprofits, endowments and public entities. Offering structured products for investment strategies associated municipal debt issuance. Providing liquidity solutions for municipal and corporate client’s cash flow requirements.

Practice general corporate & business law and banking/regulatory law as well as provide general business and strategic consulting advice for institutional investment clients, Registered Investment Advisors, crypto currency exchanges, digital currency and blockchain industries. M/A, corporate development, divestment of business holdings, drafting legal documents, negotiations, strategic planning and advice, business consulting, partnership disputes and corporate formations and applicable regulatory work regarding SEC, FinCEN, FINRA and state regulatory agencies. Specifically, Banking and Digital currency work includes FinCEN compliance, AML/KYC compliance, Consumer Data Privacy, Data Recovery Protocols, Disaster Plans, Pitch Decks, Funds Flow Charts, Internal Policy For Fraud Prevention, Money Transmitter Regulation, Record Keeping Protocols, and state registration for crypto currency exchanges.

Southeast and East Coast Representative charged with gathering deposits through escrow and trust services. Developed strategic growth plan for geographic area. Calling upon municipal finance departments, corporate treasury departments, attorneys and insurance companies in an effort to drive revenue through deposits, Trustee Services, Qualified Settlement Funds, Merger & Acquisition Escrows, and Reinsurance Trust.

Co-Founder of financial start-up company offering a governmental and institutional banking platform for community and regional banks, 1 to 20 Billion in asset size. Venture Capital Backed. Developed clients in the banking vertical. Created new investment products in the public finance/institutional space for banks including a technology/Fintech platform portal . Sold directly to banks through their C-Level Suites. Financial products included ultra-short, medium to long term investment options to gather assets of municipal bond project funds, operating and tax revenue funds, escrow funds, debt service reserve funds, and reinsurance trust funds. In charge of strategic partnership development, business development & sales, new product development, performed company legal work, hiring outside counsel, and regulatory issues including FDIC, SEC and third party vendor issues.

Top producing business development officer in the country for several years winning 2009, 2010, 2011 & 2012 US Bank Securities Platinum Award and US Bank Corporate Trust Top Producer Award. Traveled extensively throughout the Southeast doing B to B sales into C-Level Suites. Formally trained in consultative sales. Led lobbying effort in 2010, changing the Georgia law, OCGA 36-82-7, relating to the investment of bond proceeds, to successfully invest the bond proceeds for the International Terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Created and implemented business development & strategic growth plans for corporate trust services in each Southeastern market. Sold banking services to elected officials, attorneys, underwriters, CFOs, financial advisors, municipal and corporate treasury departments, commercial bankers and other centers of influence to get the bank appointed as trustee/paying agent and the investment of funds/proceeds. Responded routinely to RFPs. Invested monies from several sources including municipal bond (public finance) construction proceeds to finance and build infrastructure projects, debt service reserve accounts, class-actions settlements, merger/acquisition escrows, and 1031 exchanges. Investment vehicles included money market accounts, DDA accounts, US Treasury Portfolios, Bank Repos, and several proprietary bank products focusing on yield, liquidity, safety and flexibility. Worked with internal Treasury Department and Money Center for the pricing of balance sheet deposits using Funds Transfer Pricing model. Routinely addressed issues relating to state, federal and international banking regulations regarding its impact on the business line regarding Basel III, Liquidity Coverage Ratios and Net Stable Value Funding issues.

Served as a commercial lender and business development officer for homeowner/condominium associations for capital improvement loans. Conducted presentations and cost analysis to HOA boards and presented loans to an underwriting committee. Established deposit program for the bank to gather HOA dues/monies.