Seasoned Leaders, Strategic Partners
Our team of senior executives unites decades of global finance and operational experience to guide businesses through pivotal moments and deliver lasting results.
Our Experience
Why it is important to be a SEC / FINRA licensed firm:
For Family Offices, Board of Directors, institutional clients, or high-net-worth individuals, working with an SEC/FINRA-licensed firm reduces risk.
FCA Advisors is a SEC /FINRA licensed firm founded by senior executives who blend deep financial expertise with hands-on operating experience.
We are trusted partners to businesses at pivotal moments. With over four decades of experience with global investment banks, Family Offices and Fortune 500 companies, we combine hands-on C-suite executive leadership with deep Wall Street capital markets expertise.
Trusted by leaders across industries, FCA Advisors delivers clear, conflict-free guidance and hands-on execution—whether leading mergers and acquisitions, capital raises, strategic advisory or turnaround initiatives—to achieve measurable results and long-term shareholder value.
Our unique fee structure aligns our success with yours, ensuring every engagement is focused on creating sustainable, long-term value.
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SEC registration is required for firms that provide investment advisory services to the public or manage client assets.
FINRA licensing is required for broker-dealer activities, such as raising capital or selling securities.
Without these licenses, a firm cannot legally operate in these capacities.
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SEC and FINRA set rigorous rules for ethical conduct, transparency, reporting, and client protection.
Licensed firms are subject to ongoing audits and regulatory scrutiny, ensuring adherence to financial, operational, and ethical standards.
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Licensing signals to clients that the firm meets national standards for knowledge, experience, and ethical behavior.
Regulatory frameworks help ensure proper disclosure of conflicts of interest, fair dealing, and fiduciary responsibility.
Licensing provides recourse and accountability, giving clients confidence the services are being handled professionally.
Many smaller firms or advisors operate without licenses or often misrepresent their capabilities.
For Family Offices, institutional clients, investors, or high-net-worth individuals, working with an SEC / FINRA-licensed firm reduces risk.Being fully licensed allows a firm to stand out as credible, accountable, and capable, which is particularly important for M&A advisory, capital raising, or turnaround work.
In short, SEC/FINRA licensing is both a legal requirement and a strong credibility signal—it assures clients they are working with a professional, ethical, and accountable firm with the expertise and oversight to protect their interests.
Professionals
Steven E. Knoop
Managing Principal
Mr. Knoop has significant operational management experience as well as working over 45 years in corporate finance. He successfully served as Interim Chief Executive Officer of Turtle Wax, Inc. and as interim COO/CFO GlobalCare Clinical Trials. At Turtle Wax, Mr. Knoop reorganized Turtle Wax domestically and internationally. He addressed complex issues and realized important improvements in almost every area of operations including; marketing, sales, distribution, finance, legal and human resources, to improve shareholder value. In this assignment, Mr. Knoop was featured on FOX Business News.
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Mr. Knoop serves as Managing Principal of FCA Advisors, Inc. leading a team of highly accomplished specialists in management strategy, restructuring and mergers and acquisitions. Previously, he was Co-Group Leader and Managing Director of the U.S. Mergers and Acquisitions group at BMO Nesbitt Burns (BMO Capital Markets) where he led his clients through numerous successful engagements; many of which involved complex financial and legal structures. He has been involved in numerous public and private transactions, including a number of unsolicited bid and defense engagements. Mr. Knoop has also acted as a principal in several transactions.
Prior to working at BMO Capital Markets, Mr. Knoop was Co-Group Head of Business Advisory Services for Merrill Lynch providing strategy for private companies concerning shareholder value issues. Mr. Knoop started his career at Chemical Bank (the acquirer of JP Morgan/Chase) in New York. After securing an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, he worked in corporate finance and M&A areas at Smith Barney and Kidder Peabody in New York.
Mr. Knoop served 6 years as a publicly elected Trustee of Barrington Hills, IL and past board member of Turtle Wax, Inc., Healy Family Holdings, Demon Angels, Chicago Yacht Club https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pGtaJek5Kl-xOJQIcQd6TJIy3T23epxD/view?usp=sharing, and the Kellogg School of Management Advisory Board as well as Trustee of Sigma Chi – MU Chapter Foundation (Denison University). Mr. Knoop started the nationally recognized Chicago Senior Hockey League, coached youth football for 9 years and has won numerous national regattas as a competitive sailor https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Q2SIS-2tOSIdY0KSk7gOWV0vzsjQRn3V/view?usp=drive_link . Mr. Knoop served many years as a Lay Eucharistic Minister at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church.
Michael Waks
Special Advisor
Prior to founding CST Consulting in 2012, Mike Waks was Vice President of Global External Development at Kraft Foods. Mike helped lead the transformation of Kraft from a predominately North American company reliant on traditional grocery categories to a firm with significant presence in developing countries which has the largest global confectionery portfolio. His team executed over 40 transactions valued in the aggregate at $40 billion.
Before joining Kraft in 2005. Mike held Corporate Development and Strategy positions at Altria, WorkNet, AT&T, Unilever, United Brands, and Air Products & Chemicals. He has also worked in Strategic Market Research at Unilever.
Mike graduated with a BA from Northwestern University and received his MBA from Northwestern’s J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management. While at Northwestern he received the Rosenfeld scholarship in Economics, and was an econometrics research assistant.
James D. Treco
Special Advisor
Mr. Treco is an investment banker with more than thirty-five years of experience, principally with Salomon Brothers and its successor, Citigroup. Based in both the United States and the United Kingdom, he has worked on a variety of projects for clients around the globe, including in the Americas (North, South and Central), in Europe (Western and Eastern as well as Russia), in Africa (principally South Africa), in greater Asia (China and India), and in Australia. In the past, he has worked in various capacities with First Chicago Advisors.
Mr. Treco worked to raise capital for a nanotechnology company, worked to sell the Asian rights of New Hampshire water purification company to a publicly held water infrastructure company in China, worked on acquiring an incontinence business, and approached prospective acquisition targets for a large public packaging company based in the EU. He has served on the board of several emerging companies.
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From 1996 to 2008, Mr. Treco was based in London. He co-founded the Salomon Brothers Industrial Group in Europe, which generated peak revenues of $242MM. Mr. Treco built relationships with industrial clients and advised them on strategy, capital raising, and mergers and acquisitions.
From 1984 to 1996, Mr. Treco was based in New York City, where he gained exposure in a variety of groups at Salomon Brothers as his career developed. He worked in the Large Capitalization Group with Fortune 500 companies, in the Technology and Health Care Group with emerging companies, and in the Industrial Group with a variety of mid- and large-capitalization industrial companies ranging in size from $10mm in EBITDA to $1bn in EBITDA. He assisted clients with the full range of investment banking products and also completed a successful restructuring of a Fortune 500 company.
Mr. Treco received a BA from Yale University in 1977 and an MBA from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University in 1984.
Prior to working at BMO Capital Markets, Mr. Knoop was Co-Group Head of Business Advisory Services for Merrill Lynch providing strategy for private companies concerning shareholder value issues. Mr. Knoop started his career at Chemical Bank (the acquirer of JP Morgan/Chase) in New York. After securing an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, he worked in corporate finance and M&A areas at Smith Barney and Kidder Peabody in New York.
Mr. Knoop served 6 years as a publicly elected Trustee of Barrington Hills, IL and past board member of Turtle Wax, Inc., Healy Family Holdings, Demon Angels, Chicago Yacht Club https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pGtaJek5Kl-xOJQIcQd6TJIy3T23epxD/view?usp=sharing, and the Kellogg School of Management Advisory Board as well as Trustee of Sigma Chi – MU Chapter Foundation (Denison University). Mr. Knoop started the nationally recognized Chicago Senior Hockey League, coached youth football for 9 years and has won numerous national regattas as a competitive sailor https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Q2SIS-2tOSIdY0KSk7gOWV0vzsjQRn3V/view?usp=drive_link . Mr. Knoop served many years as a Lay Eucharistic Minister at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church.