Firstmark Credit Union hires its first chief risk officer

Firstmark Credit Union has strengthened its risk management division with the hiring of Tamika Baker as its first-ever chief risk officer. Baker’s primary responsibility includes providing oversight and direct execution of the credit union’s enterprise risk management program.

Baker joins the executive team after spending 14 years in progressive leadership roles within the financial services industry. Most recently, she held the position of VP and control officer with JPMorgan Chase. In that role, she served as the lead on specific regulatory programs that impacted each line of business and function within the bank. Additionally, she also served as an operational risk manager, starting up the risk management programs for the retail, telephone banking, and collection litigation lines of business.

Prior to her tenure at JPMorgan Chase, Baker spent several years as a risk management consultant and independently created an automated risk methodology framework. As an experienced risk management executive, she has also served as the securities compliance officer for Capital One Financial.

Baker joins Firstmark at a time when the rapidly evolving regulatory environment requires credit unions to be nimble and adapt swiftly to change. As Compliance Week previously reported, many in the industry have expressed concerns about these changes.

“In 2017, credit union compliance departments are going to be required to implement regulations related to prepaid accounts, mortgage servicing, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, and the credit card component of the Military Lending Act, just to name a few," Carrie Hunt, executive vice president of government affairs and general counsel for the National Association of Federal Credit Union, said in a statement. 'It is undeniable, even by the Bureau, that regulatory burden continues to increase exponentially and suffocate community-based financial institutions.”

By hiring Baker, Firstmark said it is enhancing its approach to risk management, while continuing to preserve the safety and soundness of the credit union over the long term.