Dive Brief:
- Matthew Cooper, Capital One's top lawyer, has become the bank's corporate secretary and head of environmental, social and governance (ESG), in addition to his general counsel duties as of March 1, Bloomberg Law reported Thursday.
- The move came a day after Citizens Bank announced it had hired Capital One's deputy general counsel, Polly Klane, to serve as general counsel and chief legal officer at the Providence, Rhode Island-based bank.
- John Finneran Jr., another top legal presence at Capital One, retired this month, according to his LinkedIn profile. He served as Capital One's general counsel from 1994 until Cooper took the role in 2018.
Dive Insight:
Cooper adopted his broadened set of responsibilities four years into his stint as Capital One's top lawyer. Meanwhile, the bank's legal department has seen two high-profile exits in the past two weeks.
Klane first joined Capital One in 1999 but left in 2007 for Fannie Mae, then a series of positions based in South Korea, according to her LinkedIn profile. She returned to Capital One in 2014 and had been deputy general counsel for six years.
“Polly brings tremendous breadth and depth of experience with large financial services and technology-focused organizations,” Citizens CEO Bruce Van Saun said in his bank's press release. “She will add significant value to Citizens as a counselor and culture carrier, helping us drive our ongoing transformation as we seek to deliver sustainable growth and become a top performing regional bank."
Finneran, meanwhile, leaves Capital One after 27 years. He became chief risk officer and corporate secretary when Cooper came aboard, the profile indicated. He transitioned out of risk after six months but retained the corporate secretary role, in addition to serving as a senior adviser at the bank.
Cooper joined Capital One in 2009 and moved up the legal department's ranks before taking the unit's top spot in 2018. He previously worked at the insurance firm Genworth and at General Electric, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Capital One in December became the largest bank to eliminate overdraft fees — until it was surpassed in February by Citi.
