Carol Galante, the former commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration, is set to leave Ocwen Financial’s board of directors later this year, the nonbank announced Monday.
Galante, who served as FHA commissioner from 2011 to 2014, joined Ocwen in February 2016.
Ocwen announced Monday that Galante notified the company that she has chosen to leave the company’s board and will not stand for re-election during the company’s annual shareholder meeting in late May.
Galante left the FHA in August 2014. After leaving the FHA, Galante became the I. Donald Terner Distinguished Professor in Affordable Housing and Urban Policy and the Faculty Director of the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley.
Galante also served as the co-chair of the Policy Advisory Board of the Fisher Center of Real Estate and Urban Economics.
Prior to joining the FHA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Galante served as president and CEO of BRIDGE Housing Corporation, a nonprofit developer of affordable, mixed-income and mixed-use developments in California.
Now, Galante is set to leave Ocwen in just a few months.
“We are grateful for Carol’s years of outstanding service to the board and wish her well in the future,” Ocwen Chair of the Board Phyllis Caldwell said. “We look forward to a smooth transition and to maintaining a balanced mix of qualified, diverse directors with the requisite skills and experience to understand the business, risks and opportunities ahead for Ocwen.”
But Galante leaving isn’t the only upcoming change for Ocwen’s board.
Ocwen also announced Monday that it is adding two new board members, Jenne Britell and Kevin Stein.
Britell brings financial services industry experience, having served as a senior executive at GE Capital from 1996 to 2000. At GE, Britell served as the executive vice president of global consumer finance and president of global commercial and mortgage banking.
Britell also served as president and chief executive officer of GE Capital, Central and Eastern Europe. Before joining GE Capital, Britell held management positions with Dime Bancorp, HomePower, Citicorp, and Republic New York.
Britell has served as a director of United Rentals since 2006 and as its non-executive chair since 2008. Britell has also served as a director of Quest Diagnostics since 2005. From 2000 through 2017, Britell served as a director of Crown Holdings.
Stein is currently the CEO and co-founder of Resolution Analytica, a buyer of commercial judgments. Prior to co-founding Resolution Analytica in 2017, Stein was senior managing director of KCK-US, a private equity firm.
Stein was previously a managing director in the financial institutions group of Barclays from 2011 to 2016. Prior to joining Barclays, Stein was a partner at FBR Capital Markets and group head of the depository investment banking practice.
Prior to joining FBR in 2004, Stein was an executive of GreenPoint Financial, where he held a number of roles including director of strategy and corporate development, executive vice president of mortgage banking, and chief information officer.
Stein also served on the board of PHH from June 2017 until it was acquired by Ocwen last year.
“We are very pleased to welcome Jenne and Kevin to the Ocwen board,” Caldwell said.
“Jenne and Kevin bring extensive executive and advisory experience, including in the mortgage and financial services industries, and their collective expertise will be invaluable as we execute our strategic priorities and remain committed to our goal of maximizing value for our shareholders,” Caldwell added. The addition of these directors complements our board’s skills and experiences, and we are confident they will provide valuable perspectives and look forward to their contributions.”
With the moves, Ocwen said that it expects to decrease the size of its board from 10 to nine members.
