US mortgage giant Freddie Mac has appointed Matthew Abrusci as general counsel, replacing Heidi Mason who retired at the start of this month.
Abrusci joins from Japanese bank MUFG, where he was GC for the Americas region. He brings more than three decades of financial services experience across banking, capital markets and securities law. At Freddie Mac, he will be responsible for all legal matters.
Freddie Mac supports the US housing market by purchasing mortgage loans from lenders in the secondary market, allowing those lenders to make more loans to homebuyers.
Mike Hutchins, president and interim CEO at Freddie Mac, said: “Matthew Abrusci brings deep experience across the legal spectrum, and I have no doubt he will quickly become a valued member of Freddie Mac’s executive team.”
Abrusci arrives after just over two years at MUFG, having previously spent just over three years at RBC Capital Markets, first as associate GC and head of its US capital markets law group and later as associate GC for global capital markets.
Prior to that he spent almost 16 years at Credit Suisse, eventually working his way up to head of legal for Americas investment banking and capital markets, having started his legal career in-house at Merrill Lynch.
Mason, meanwhile, notified Freddie Mac of her intention to retire in June, stepping down at the start of this month after three-and-a-half years with the organisation. She previously spent two years as a partner at ElevateNext Law and 17 years before that at Wells Fargo across a number of roles, including as senior deputy GC and head of consumer banking legal.
She started her career in private practice at Skadden Arps.
In other recent finance moves, last month former Freddie Mac lawyer Geraldine Hayhurst joined agriculture financing business Farmer Mac as chief legal officer. She spent nearly 16 years at Freddie Mac, most recently as deputy GC for mortgage securities and strategic corporate initiatives, before her departure in 2021.
Also in August, Canadian financial services organisation Manulife hired Mike Coyne as GC from global banking think tank The Bank Policy Institute. Prior to that Coyne was Abrusci’s predecessor at MUFG as GC for the Americas region.
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