Mr. Block is a Certified Public Accountant with over thirty-five years of diversified experience providing project management, litigation support, auditing, forensic accounting, financial reporting, and other consulting services to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, major financial institutions, the Department of Justice, government contracting firms, manufacturing, construction, real estate and service industries.

As the Executive Managing Director for Watkins, Mr. Block is in charge of the day-to-day operations of Watkins and also functions as the Executive-in-Charge of client engagements involving complex accounting and valuation issues. He is also responsible for program management of the Shared Loss program with the FDIC.

Expertise

Banking and Finance

  • Litigation Support
  • Cost Analysis
  • Valuations

Operations

  • Establishment of Policies and Procedures for Accounting Systems
  • Administrative Controls
  • Internal Audit

Project Management

  • Implementation and integration of FAS Standards
  • Compliance Agreements
  • Federal Contracting

Experience

Watkins Consulting, Inc., Executive Managing Director

As the Executive Managing Director for Watkins Consulting, Inc. Mr. Block is in charge of the day-to-day operations of WCI and also functions as the Executive-in-Charge of client engagements involving complex accounting and valuation issues. He is also responsible for program management of the Shared Loss program with the FDIC.

Currently, he is the leading project manager for Commercial Shared-Loss and Structured Transactions Agreements as part of a contract with the FDIC. As part of this engagement, Mr. Block has analyzed and reviewed the appropriateness of claims filed by Assuming Institutions for losses incurred on acquired assets (i.e., commercial assets). This includes the valuation methodologies and conclusions applied by the Assuming Institutions on an asset-by-asset basis including the use of the net present value of discounted cash flows, appraisal conclusions, environmental issues, the strength of Guarantors as a source of repayment, and time horizon for recovery. He has also been a part of a valuation team for the Asset Loss Reserve (ALR) project also for the FDIC which valued assets received from Bank Receiverships. Mr. Block has extensive knowledge of real estate developments, construction accounting, accounting standards as it relates to valuations, and extensive knowledge of the structure and complexity of multi-tiered subsidiary corporations.

Mr. Block also served on a long-term Restatement Effort at Fannie Mae, where he was the project manager of a team of CPAs that provided implementation and integration assistance of Financial Accounting Standards (FAS), including FAS 115, 140, 133, 149, 157 and 159 as it relates to Mortgages, MBS Securities, Revenue Bonds, and REMICS. This work required a complete turn-key approach for restatement of prior financial results and included development of business requirements, identification of source systems, implementation and integration of IT solutions, and testing, validation and continued monitoring of results that culminated in effective management financial reporting data that complied with Generally Accepted Accounting Standards.

Mr. Block also functioned as the Team Lead for a US Department of Justice project responsible for analysis of “Suspicious Activity Reports” (SAR); Anti-Money Laundering (AML) processes and procedures; and provided recommendations to management for improvement of its systems. For DOJ’s Civil Division, Office of Planning, Budget, and Evaluation, developed administrative controls over funds under apportionment, by establishing formal processes and procedures for safeguarding against deficiencies and unauthorized obligations and expenditures; assisted in establishment of financial accounting and management systems that supports the execution of the component’s budget and has effective internal controls over the management and disbursement of federal funds.

Mr. Block has also functioned as a Litigation Consultant, providing damage analysis and formulation for parties of complex litigation involving breach of contract matters; conducted cost analysis, projections, and technical expertise to legal counsel regarding multiple litigation matters; provided testimony in support of various litigation claims.
Mr. Block’s prior experiences include serving as the Finance Executive of a closely held investment company and as a Partner in a Regional Accounting Firm for over a decade. He was the Audit Partner specializing in providing consulting and auditing services to companies with federal government contracts. He also prepared analysis of internal controls including development of internal audit procedures; reviewed cost structures for fixed-price and cost-based government contracts; performed procurement due diligence and cost realism analysis in support of government contracts.

Certifications and Memberships

  • Certified Public Accountant, State of Maryland, 1980
  • Member, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
  • Member, Maryland Institute of Certified Public Accountants