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Ken Markison, an expert on the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act and a veteran of HUD, has been named senior director and regulatory counsel in the Government Affairs Department of the Mortgage Bankers Association.Mr. Markison is retiring from the federal government, having served for three decades at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, most recently as assistant general counsel for government-sponsored enterprises and RESPA. The MBA said Mr. Markison is one of the country's top experts on RESPA and that he personally developed several important RESPA rules and has played "a major role" in HUD's RESPA reform effort. He has also worked extensively on issues related to the housing government-sponsored enterprises, including developing legislation and regulations establishing affordable housing goals and fair-lending requirements, the MBA said. The association can be found online at http://www.mortgagebankers.org.

Stan Martin, who has served as interim general auditor of Freddie Mac since Feb. 9, has been named senior vice president and general auditor of the government-sponsored enterprise.Mr. Martin, who reports directly to the Audit Committee of Freddie Mac's board of directors, will be responsible for assessing risks, providing independent advice, and heading the GSE's internal audit organization. Before joining Freddie Mac, Mr. Martin was a consultant to HSBC Bank USA on integration and divestiture. The majority of his career of over 30 years was spent with the KPMG accounting firm, where he served as the Securities and Exchange Commission reviewing partner, Freddie Mac said. Mr. Martin's role as general auditor will be crucial as the company continues to play catch-up in its financial reporting due to a $5 billion accounting scandal. Freddie Mac can be found online at http://www.freddiemac.com.

Mark S. Lee has been named senior vice president and director of marketing at ABN Amro Mortgage Group Inc., Ann Arbor, Mich.Mr. Lee will develop marketing strategies and initiatives for AAMG as well as oversee the marketing activities for each of AAMG's divisions, the company said. Before joining AAMG, Mr. Lee was head of marketing for the Auto Club Group/AAA Michigan in Dearborn, Mich.

Denis W. St. Marie has been named executive vice president of consumer finance at Webster Bank NA, Waterbury, Conn., where his responsibilities will include residential lending, mortgage banking, and secondary marketing.Mr. St. Marie was most recently president of KeyMortgage Services, where his duties included heading the company's mortgage operations center. Before that, he was executive vice president of secondary marketing for Bank One. Webster Bank, a subsidiary of Webster Financial Corp., can be found on the Web at http://www.websteronline.com.

Fran Clemens, senior vice president at ABN Amro Mortgage Group Inc., Ann Arbor, Mich., has been named to the newly created position of manager of emerging markets.Ms. Clemens will work to expand AAMG's primary target markets to include low- to moderate-income, ethnically diverse, and first-time homebuyers, the company said. She will work with all AAMG divisions, including Standard Federal Bank and LaSalle Bank Retail Lending, to develop strategies to attract first-time homebuyers. Ms. Clemens, a 25-year veteran of the mortgage industry, has served in various sales and management positions in retail and wholesale mortgage lending, including a stint as senior vice president of InterFirst Wholesale Mortgage Lending.

Ken Alverson, executive vice president and chief administrative officer of American Home Mortgage Investment Corp., has left the company, MortgageWire has learned.American Home spokesman John Lovallo declined to comment on Mr. Alverson's departure, saying, "it's against public company policy to comment on personnel." No information was available on when Mr. Alverson joined the mortgage banker. Mr. Alverson could not be reached for immediate comment. Based in Melville, N.Y., American Home is the 22nd-largest residential lender in the U.S.

The Chicago Federal Home Loan Bank has named Charles A. Huston to serve as the acting president of the $95 billion cooperative bank while a search continues for a permanent replacement for Alex Pollock.On June 8, Mr. Pollock unexpectedly announced he would step down as president on June 30 to take a position as a resident fellow at a Washington think tank. Mr. Huston joined the Chicago FHLBank in 1991. He most recently served as executive vice president of membership relationship management, where he played a central role in the growth and success of the Mortgage Partnership Finance program. Meanwhile, Chicago FHLBank chairman Allen Koranda said a search committee has been formed to find a permanent replacement. "We have begun a search to identify the best candidate and will conduct it as quickly as possible, but there is no deadline for the completion of this process," Mr. Koranda said.

Moody's Investors Service has named Warren Kornfeld, a senior credit officer in the rating agency's residential mortgage-backed securities group, to be the new head of its mortgage servicer ratings.Mr. Kornfeld replaces Linda Stesney, who has been promoted to a position as co-head of the Moody's term asset-backed securities group. She is moving up because Michael Kanef, formerly co-head of term ABS, has been named group managing director for asset finance. Moody's can be found online at http://www.moodys.com.

Industry veteran Dale Kurland, a former managing director at Bear Stearns, has formed a new advisory firm, hoping to tap what could be a hot merger market for mortgage companies in the next few years."We anticipate a robust market for mergers, acquisitions, and overall consolidation in the mortgage business for the foreseeable future," said Ms. Kurland, who will serve as chief executive of her new firm, Classic Strategies Group LLC. The new company is based in New York. Prior to launching CSG, Ms. Kurland was a principal in DK Advisory Services. DKAS advised on several franchise-related deals, including the sale of First Town Mortgage, James Madison Mortgage, Knutson Mortgage, and others. In the early 1990s, Ms. Kurland was the head of mortgage banking M&A for Bear Stearns. CSG can be found online at http://www.classicsg.com.

Ted McGovern, chief executive of the EBS Building Society, has been named the new president of the International Union for Housing Finance.Mr. McGovern replaces Graham Hollick, group chief executive of Old Mutual Zimbabwe Ltd., who has presided over the group for the past year. The International Union for Housing Finance can be found on the Web at http://www.housingfinance.org.