Career moves

Alan Todd plans to join Bank of America Merrill Lynch in August as head of U.S. commercial mortgage-backed securities research.

Credit Suisse this week hired Roger Lehman as managing director and head of its commercial mortgage-backed securities department, responsible for research and analysis. His appointment is effective August 1.

Marty Gruenberg, the No. 2 at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., is expected to be nominated shortly as the agency's chairman, according to several sources.

Real Estate Mortgage Network Inc., a national mortgage lender based in River Edge, N.J., opened a new office in San Diego.

Residential Finance Corp., Columbus, Ohio, has hired Daniel Jacobs, former 1st Metropolitan CEO, to head up its new retail branching operation, ProLending Network.

Frank Keating, the head of the American Bankers Association, late Tuesday reneged on his endorsement of Elizabeth Warren as director for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau within hours of saying the trade group would "be fully supportive" of her nomination.

Freddie Mac’s capital market chief, Peter J. Federico, a 23-year veteran of the GSE, announced that he is leaving the company in mid-May.

The White House keeps insisting it has not made a final choice for director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, but there is a growing expectation that Elizabeth Warren will soon get the nod.

MERSCorp Inc., parent company of the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, named former CitiMortgage chairman and CEO Bill Beckmann its permanent replacement for retired president and CEO R.K. Arnold.

Kinecta Federal Credit Union promoted Brian Herbert to Southwest regional manager of its wholesale mortgage sales operation.

CMG Mortgage has hired Todd Hempstead, a Fannie Mae veteran of 25 years, to work with private investors interested in buying and securitizing conforming and jumbo mortgages.

SunTrust Banks Inc. has made more changes to its management team.The Atlanta-based company named Aleem Gillani its chief financial officer; he had been corporate treasurer.

Jefferies has named a former American Stock Transfer and Trust Co. executive as managing director in the firm’s fixed-income military housing mortgage business.

Passport Capital hired Jeffrey Kong as a portfolio manager, who will be responsible for managing the firm's mortgage-backed and related fixed-income strategy.

Loan officers are still licking their wounds in the wake of the Federal Reserve's new (restrictive) loan officer compensation rules, but if anyone's celebrating it's the folks whose job is to actually hire LOs, and their wholesale counterparts, account executives.

BlackRock Inc. has named a new global head of real estate to oversee both debt and equity investment products.

MountainView Capital Holdings, Denver, on Thursday announced the hiring of Robert Wellerstein as a managing director in the firm's mortgage and fixed income sales and trading units.

Sandler O'Neill is adding two managing directors as well as three new sales professionals to its Chicago-based fixed-income group as part of an effort to strengthen its growing new-issue distribution of MBS and other fixed-income products.

Hammerhouse LLC opened a new regional office in Chicago, the company's third in the U.S., which will be managed by John Van Tassel, vice president strategic growth.Van Tassel assumes his role with seven years of experience in nationwide recruiting of mortgage production professionals.

CoreLogic hired 25-year mortgage industry veteran Arlene Hyde to the newly created position of senior vice president of strategic relationships for its Business and Information Services division.