Career moves

Lee Shaiman, who oversaw $20 billion in leveraged finance and other fixed-income investments at Blackstone, will succeed Bram Smith. who announced his retirement in early 2017.

Marjan van der Weijden, an 18-year veteran of the company based in London, Is taking over Duignan’s former role as global group head of structured finance and covered bonds.

Lawrence Berkovich joins as a partner from a nearly two-year stint at Ashurst; he follows in the footsteps of five other A&O finance practice partners who left Ashurst's NY office last year.

Morreale was previously a managing director and associate general counsel in the mortgage and legal group at Goldman Sachs, where he provided legal counsel for businesses across a range of asset-backed securities

Hunton & Williams continues its national expansion with the arrival of corporate partner John J. Dedyo in the firm’s New York office.

Bram Smith is retiring as executive director of the Loans Syndication & Trading Association effective at year’s end, the trade group announced Thursday. Smith has been with the LSTA for nine years, joining as interim executive director in September 2008 before he was installed as permanent ED in December 2009.

Charles Citro joined the Morningstar Credit Ratings this week as managing director for commercial mortgage-backed securities ratings and analytics

The lawsuit against the Commercial Finance Association also names Andrea Petro, the president of the organization, and her employer, Wells Fargo & Co., as defendants, according to the complaint that was filed in in federal court last month.

Jim Rosenthal, a former chief operating officer at Morgan Stanley, is joining the board of directors at OnDeck Capital.

Annelis Osborne alleges that she was fired for airing complaints of gender bias and sexual harassment within the rating agency.

Scott Alvarez, the Federal Reserve's longtime general counsel, will retire later this year after nearly three dozen years at the central bank, the agency announced Wednesday

Prosper Marketplace, a pioneering online lender that has struggled recently, has hired a former USAA executive as its chief financial officer.

Semper Capital Management, a boutique fixed-income investment manager, has hired Christopher Mendez as its general counsel and chief compliance officer.

The Trump administration gave the first clear sign Thursday that it intends to dismiss Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray.

DBRS, which recently expanded its scope of ratings coverage to include European corporates, has filled a new managing director role over its European structured finance team with the veteran analyst in commercial mortgage structured finance.

The administrators selected by the president-elect have been grouped into "landing teams" who will collect information on each agency, ranging from the agency's budget and policies to the status of various rulemakings and the current administration's priorities.

Lending Club founder and online-lending pioneer Renaud Laplanche is seeking a second act in a new company.

Aaron Vermut has resigned as chief executive of Prosper Marketplace, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

Structured credit firm ZAIS Group has hired two new executives to spearhead its collateralized loans obligation and other asset-backed businesses out of London.

KeyBanc Capital Markets, the investment banking arm of Cleveland-based KeyCorp, has expanded its fixed income platform with the addition of a five-person asset-backed team from BB&T Capital Markets.