Fall 2020 CMISS Retreat

Brittany George, Partner - IT Advisory Services, Weaver

Brittany George, CISA, CISM, QSA, is a partner with Weaver based out of their Dallas office and has more than 16 years of experience, including former Big Four experience with a focus on public company audits. Her current focus includes cybersecurity, system and organization controls (SOC) reporting, evaluation and testing of IT general controls (ITGCs) and regulatory compliance (including Payment Card Industry and Sarbanes-Oxley). She was hired by TXU/Capgemini Energy through OU’s career services out of college, where she gained a deep understanding of utilities and the energy industry. Additional industry experience includes government, technology service providers, financial services, oil and gas, healthcare and banking.

Brittany is a member of the IIA, AFCOM and Tech Titans, for which she serves as Tri-Chair on the Cybersecurity Forum and on the advisory board for the Dallas SecureWorld Conference. She is also a member and past president of the North Texas chapter of ISACA. Highly respected in her field, she has been a guest lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin and often presents on security and other IT advisory topics, including having recently presented at the InfoSec World Conference & Expo. She is currently an advisory board member for the Newman Smith High School International Business Academy and has served as a Big Sister in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program as well as on the board of the Women’s Auxiliary to Children’s Medical Center - Dallas.

A Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), and a PCI Qualified Security Assessor (QSA), she earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in management information systems from the University of Oklahoma and a professional graduate certificate in cybersecurity from Harvard.

Gavin Fearey, Of Counsel, Winstead PC

Gavin Fearey is Of Counsel for Winstead PC, where he is a member of the firm’s Investment Management & Private Funds Industry Group. Recently, Gavin has counseled a number of investment managers and other businesses that are active in the cryptocurrency space or exploring blockchain opportunities.

Arnold Spencer, General Counsel, Coinsource and Spencer & Associates

Mr. Spencer is the founding member of Spencer & Associates, a firm specializing in cryptocurrency compliance and enforcement matters. Mr. Spencer serves as General Counsel for Coinsource, the leading operator of Bitcoin ATMs in the United States, ensuring that the more than 200 Bitcoin Teller Machines comply with all laws and regulations in twenty five states. Mr. Spencer also serves as legal counsel to TaaSFund, a European investment fund that invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain concepts. He has defended cryptocurrency and blockchain companies before the SEC, CFTC, FBI, Homeland Security, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and state Departments of Banking and Securities. Mr. Spencer speaks and writes about Bitcoin, blockchain, and compliance challenges in the digital currency industry. He authored the chapter addressing international money laundering for International White Collar Enforcement (Aspatore, 2015).

From 2000 to 2010, Mr. Spencer served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Texas. He specialized in securities fraud, financial fraud, and money laundering prosecutions, and prosecuted more than 100 federal cases. Mr. Spencer was selected as one of the trial lawyers that prosecuted criminal violations arising from the collapse of Enron. Among other high profile cases, he prosecuted a South American casa de cambio for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, and obtained the one of the longest sentences ever imposed by a federal judge for money laundering. The U.S. Attorney General awarded Mr. Spencer the John Marshall Award, the highest award presented to a Justice Department attorney for contributions and excellence in legal performance.

Mr. Spencer previously was a partner at Akin Gump and Haynes & Boone in Dallas. He graduated from Amherst College and the University of Texas Law School. He is married to Mary McClendon Spencer, and has two boys, ages 14 and 16.