Stanley

Stan is a former commissioned officer in the United States Navy and designated Naval Aviator.  He is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy (BS Economics), has an MBA in finance from San Francisco State University and is a CFA Charterholder.

Walter Yao

Walter Yao is currently Senior Manager of the Country Analysis Unit. In that capacity, he manages the country analysts and coordinates the Unit's research and analyses in the Asian economies. From 1997-2000, he was a member of CAU, covering Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, and Japan. Since then, he has worked in the banking policy function with a primary focus on accounting, disclosure, and capital standards and also served as co-chair for the Accounting Communications Network, a Federal Reserve System committee on accounting issues. Walter has been a speaker at a number of banking supervision seminars sponsored by the Federal Reserve System and by international organizations. In addition, he has served as an Advisor to the People’s Bank of China and to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas under the technical assistance programs of the International Monetary Fund.

Walter Yao received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of California, Berkeley, and his Master of Science in Industrial Administration from Carnegie Mellon University. In addition, he holds the professional designations of Chartered Financial Analyst, Certified Management Accountant, and Certified Public Accountant.

Nkechi Carroll
Country Manager – Philippines
Asia Program Coordinator
Phone: (213) 683 - 2378

In CAU Nkechi is responsible for coordinating events and publications for the Asia Program including our Asia Financial Forum speaker series, Asia conferences and publicly distributed analysis. In addition, Nkechi is responsible for monitoring and reporting on the condition of Philippines’ banking system and relevant economic and political trends that affect that banking system. Prior to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Nkechi worked as a Trader/Analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for six years, where her work included the Euro portfolio conversion and conducting open market operations. Nkechi graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in Economics and French and also has a Masters in International Economics from New York University.

Cindy Marks

Cindy Marks is a Country Manager and Financial Analyst for China and Hong Kong in the Country Analysis Unit. Prior to joining the Federal Reserve Bank (FRB) of San Francisco, she worked in FRB New York’s Bank Supervision Group as a member of the Market Risk Monitoring and Analysis team. She also spent three years helping to manage Asia-related programs at the Institute of International Education in New York and Washington, DC. Cindy holds a Masters degree in International Affairs from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) with a focus on China and International Economics. She earned her Bachelors degree in International Relations at Tufts University.

Arlene Mayeda
Country Manager – Japan, Thailand and Vietnam
Phone: (213) 683-2972

Arlene Mayeda is a Country Manager and Senior Financial Analyst in the Country Analysis Unit. She is responsible for monitoring banking, financial, and economic developments in the Asia Pacific region.  She has been with the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Division of Banking Supervision and Regulation since 2001, and is currently based out of the Los Angeles Branch.  Prior to joining the Federal Reserve, she worked for eight years at the U.S. Department Commerce, International Trade Administration in Washington, D.C. where she worked on a range of issues related to U.S. trade with East Asia, including Japanese construction talks, APEC e-commerce discussions as well as China PNTR and steel anti-dumping.  Arlene was a Reischauer Fellow at the Matsushita Institute of Government and Management (Seikeijuku) where she studied Japanese politics.  She has an MA in International Relations from Johns Hopkins SAIS and an AB Cum Laude in Philosophy from Harvard.   She speaks fluent Japanese and has traveled extensively throughout Asia.

Christopher Sigur
Sr. Project Analyst
Phone: (415) 974-2895

Christopher Sigur is currently Senior Project Analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, working in the Banking Supervision & Analysis Group’s Asia Program. 

Until 2006, he was Executive Director of the Japan Society of Northern California for eight years, and led San Francisco’s commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the signing of the San Francisco Peace Treaty in 2001, and the 100th birthday of the Society in 2005.  He was Vice President of Asia Studies at the Carnegie Council in New York from 1989 to 1997, and from 1979 to 1987 represented the Asia Foundation in Jakarta and Seoul.

Mr. Sigur holds an MPhil from Columbia University, an MA from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and an undergraduate degree from Georgetown University.

Dwight Smith
Country Manager – Korea and Southeast Asia
Phone: (213) 683-2914

Dwight has a varied background in banking, with about even amounts of time between commercial banking, consulting and work at the Federal Reserve.  He began his career working as a commercial lender, with particular experience in asset-based finance, private banking, and entertainment lending.  As a KPMG consultant, Dwight worked on numerous projects to improve risk management processes at Asian financial institutions, during the post-Asia crisis period, such as expected loss model implementation.  This work also included many due diligence projects as part of mergers and acquisitions, and distressed debt valuation.  His work at the Federal Reserve has centered in foreign bank supervision, including a large Japanese bank as credit and market risk specialist.  Dwight earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan.  In his role in CAU, Dwight monitors banking, financial, and economic developments in Korea and Southeast Asia.

Nicolas Stefano
Country Manager – India and Taiwan
Phone: (415) 974-2921

Nicolas Stefano is a Country Manager and Financial Analyst for India and Taiwan in the Country Analysis Unit. Prior to joining the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, he worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for over five years, maintaining various responsibilities in the Bank Supervision Group. Most recently, he worked in the Foreign Banks department, serving in the roles of Examiner-in-Charge, Financial/Economic Analyst and Relationship Specialist.

Nick graduated from Columbia University with a Master of International Affairs degree in International Finance and Economic Policy, and from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Economics and Management. In addition, he is a commissioned bank examiner of the Federal Reserve System.