Protego Trust Bank N.A. has appointed Brian P. Brooks and Michael A. Carpenter to its board. They join five other independent directors on Protego’s board.
Widely recognised as a leader in financial services law and policy, and emerging technologies, Brooks served as acting U.S. Comptroller of the Currency until January 2021, where he was instrumental in the agency’s decision to approve the first digital asset banks. He is currently CEO of Bitfury Group, focused on making AI, blockchain, bitcoin and other new technologies secure and trusted. He previously served as chief legal officer of cryptocurrency platform Coinbase Global Inc., executive vice president and general counsel at Fannie Mae, and vice chairman of OneWest Bank N.A.
Carpenter led Ally Financial, a digital bank, for six years through its IPO. He is currently on the board of CIT Group and CIT Bank N.A., recently acquired by First Citizens Bank. Previously he held several senior positions at Citigroup, including chairman and CEO of Citigroup Alternative Investments, as well as chairman and CEO of the bank’s global corporate & investment bank, including Salomon Smith Barney.
In 2021, Protego Trust was granted a conditional federal charter from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and was first chartered by the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions.