Katerina (Katie) Mills

She advises on day-to-day compliance issues, anti-money laundering and financial institution regulatory matters, payment products and cryptocurrency regulations, and issues involving financial technology products. She also as a deep understanding of digital assets and blockchain technology, as well as digital asset regulatory compliance, instrument design, and market microstructure.

Katie is skilled in designing and implementing analytical compliance frameworks for cutting-edge digital asset fintech companies. One of her strengths is in making complex regulatory issues understandable and surmountable assisting clients to design compliant, industry leading, and innovative products.

Before joining Barnes & Thornburg, Katie was a corporate counsel and director of compliance for Custodia Bank (f/k/a Avanti Financial Group, Inc.) and corporate counsel for Salt Blockchain Inc. She was responsible for compliance strategy and implementation, regulatory risk analysis, licensure and registration, as well as digital asset and instrument analysis. Katie has designed and implemented full-suite Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), Know Your Customer (KYC), Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Know Your Transaction (KYT), and fiat transactional monitoring systems and completed 50-state product and licensure analyses for financial services companies in the digital asset space. 

Notably, Katie is a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS), Certified Financial Crime Specialist (CFCS), and holds several foundational cryptocurrency certifications.

While earning her first undergraduate degree, Katie was a full scholarship athlete on the UCLA women’s volleyball team, where she earned PAC-10 Honors.