Karina Byrne
Managing Director, Head of Los Angeles Office
Karina Byrne specializes in strategic communications counsel, issues management, crisis communication, change management, media relations and internal communications. She has decades of experience in global and federal enforcement actions, securities litigation, class action defense and employment law. Karina has advised financial services firms focused on wealth management, investment banking and asset management, as well as companies in the fintech, insurance, payments, technology, mining, industrials, infrastructure and pharmaceutical industries.
Prior to joining H/Advisors Abernathy, Karina was a Senior Managing Director at Teneo. Previously, she was head of corporate communications for the investment bank and asset management divisions of Credit Suisse AG. Karina spent a decade as head of external communications for the wealth and asset management businesses of UBS AG, and served as media relations and internal communications head for the American entities of Barclays PLC.
Karina has also worked at public and investor relations firms in San Diego, CA, Winston-Salem, NC, and New York, NY. She began her career as a reporter, editor and columnist for The Winston-Salem Journal, The Winnipeg Free Press and Thomson News Service (now Thomson Reuters).
Representative Experience
• Brazilian lithium miner on CEO executive visibility and highlighting their sustainable mining practices
• Global manufacturing company on federal and multistate public affairs campaign promoting the safety and efficacy of their chemical compounds
• Top three payments company on increasing media awareness of the expertise and thought leadership of five business division heads
• Credit Suisse on leading communications on multiple financial enforcement actions by the SEC, CFTC, FCA (UK), FINMA (Switzerland), HKMA, (Hong Kong), MAS (Singapore), and CVM (Brazil)
• UBS on leading communications on multi-jurisdiction investigations and settlements for manipulating LIBOR and rigging foreign exchange rates
• UBS and Credit Suisse on multi-billion-dollar tax evasion and RMBS investigations and settlements
• Misconduct and risk management failure settlements related to the collapse of Archegos Capital Management & Greensill Capital
Education
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, M.A. in Journalism & Mass Communication
• Memorial University of Newfoundland, B.A. in English Literature
Memberships and Affiliations
• Chief
• 100 Women in Finance
• New York Women in Communications
• Financial Communications Society
Languages
• French
• German