Raji Sathappan

Raji Sathappan has a clear passion for banking which shows through her energy and drive as a Managing Director in Mercadien’s Financial Institutions Services Group.  She is no stranger to the stage, hosting and speaking at a variety of local and national seminars on hot topics such as compliance, internal controls and enterprise risk.  A sought-after expert in her field, she has given numerous presentations to various organizations, including the American and New Jersey Bankers Associations, Financial Managers Society, and Central New Jersey Compliance Group. Raji loves meeting new people and building lasting relationships. She believes in being flexible and working with her clients, but always acting as a sounding board is imperative.

Raji’s clients really lean on her for all their needs. She lends an ear to listen, serves as a problem solver, and is considered a trusted advisor. She makes herself available to her clients any time of day or night, acting as their help desk. She tells her clients, “Call me any time day or night, I’m here for you.”

She manages engagements for the firm’s banking team, primarily overseeing all aspects of internal audits, compliance consulting, SOX and FDICIA implementation, information technology reviews and the implementation of remediation activities for commercial and community bank clients. Raji’s broad base of industry and technical experience allows her to service her clients to the best of her ability in order to be compliant. She is proficient in all operational audits including deposit, lending, accounting/finance, branch and IT operations.

Prior to working with Mercadien, Raji was a senior compliance, audit and risk management executive at several international banks and companies, including TD Bank, a PricewaterhouseCoopers unit, American Express, Arthur Andersen and AT&T. She has been instrumental in creating and implementing quality processes to track, report and remediate findings in all platforms and developing consumer compliance risk management frameworks and risk-assessed monitoring programs; has led audit teams on all aspects of audits; created and implemented SOX controls and processes; and performed internal audits, financial analyses, and SOX documentation.