Prime Trust bolsters regulatory bench with new leadership appointments

By Pavithra R

Prime Trust, an innovative open-banking financial solutions provider, has named Mike Smith as Chief Operating Officer (COO), while also appointing several former officials of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to its regulatory and compliance team: Jeff Tsai, Dana Dobi and Liz Teifer.

Smith, a former Federal Reserve Bank examiner, coupled with consulting with Promontory Financial Group and executive roles with Visa and Green Dot, joins Prime Trust with an extensive background in risk management and BSA AML compliance. As COO, he will lead the company’s operations in its push to become the market leader in financial infrastructure services and enable the future of financial services.

To support Prime Trust’s hyper-growth, the additions of Tsai, Dobi and Teifer from the OCC will play a pivotal role in the company’s build-out of its proprietary operational framework that helps clients assess risk, stay ahead of compliance requirements, make more informed decisions and adapt for rapid shifts in the cryptocurrency markets.

Beyond the recent hires, Prime Trust has top talent across the organization. Its leadership team also includes the following executives:

• Matt Parrella, General Counsel – professional experience includes: Assistant DA (Suffolk County in the State of New York) and Assistant U.S. Attorney (San Jose Branch Chief, Chief of the Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property Unit)
• Tiago Requeijo, Chief Data Officer and Chief Technology Officer – professional experience includes: Certified Data Analyst, Securities Exchange Commission, Goldman Sachs, Stanford Ph.D. Mathematics
• Tom Pageler, CEO – professional experience includes: special agent with the U.S. Secret Service (DHS and Treasury)
• John Zelazny, Chief Privacy Officer and Vice President of Risk Management – professional experience includes: military intelligence officer
• Amanda Ortega, Chief of Regulatory Affairs – professional experience includes: Deputy Banking Commissioner of Wyoming

“Amid accelerating growth in cryptocurrencies and rising interest from investors, fintech has opened the door to infinite opportunities for consumers and businesses across industries. But with that comes new challenges, including navigating fast-evolving rules and regulatory requirements. We’re committed to being a leader in understanding and anticipating such shifts to ensure market transparency and 100 percent client compliance. In fact, half of our engineers are dedicated to security and risk management, which illustrates the significant investment we’re making to stay on top of regulatory requirements,” said Tom Pageler, CEO of Prime Trust. 

Founded in 2013 as an escrow company, Prime Trust is a technology-driven trust company modernizing financial infrastructure and packaging it into easy to use APIs and widgets.