Coinbase hires new CLO

Digital currency wallet and platform Coinbase has recruited Brian Brooks as its new chief legal officer.

Brooks most recently served as executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary of Fannie Mae. In that role, he led the company’s 200-person legal department and government relations group, and acted as a senior adviser to the CEO and board of directors.

Before joining Fannie Mae, Brooks led the legal department at OneWest Bank, which he helped sell to CIT Group. He joined OneWest in 2011 from O’Melveny & Myers, where he served as managing partner of the law firm’s Washington, DC office and chair of the financial services practice group.

‘[Brooks’] arrival is part of our effort to expand our legal, compliance and government affairs capabilities as we head into this next chapter for the company and the crypto-currency industry as a whole,’ Coinbase co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong says in a statement.

He adds: ‘Mike Lempres successfully led our legal function through an important chapter of the company’s history. He will now focus on scaling the company’s government affairs program, which includes Coinbase as a founding member of the Blockchain Association and managing the Coinbase Political Action Committee. We’d like to thank Mike for his leadership and welcome Brian to the team!’

Coinbase also recently hired Jeff Horowitz as chief compliance officer (CCO). Horowitz previously worked at Pershing, where for the past three years he served as managing director and global head of compliance, overseeing its regulatory and compliance programs. He has also served as the firm’s CCO and global head of anti-money laundering.