Acting Ginnie Mae Chief Quits

For the second time this year, Ginnie Mae is without a leader.

 

Maren Kasper, the agency’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer who has served as Acting President since January, is resigning. Kasper replaced Michael Bright, who served as Acting Executive Vice President following the resignation of Ted Tozer as Ginnie Mae President when President Trump took office.

 

President Trump nominated Bright to succeed Tozer in May 2018 and he was approved by the Senate Banking Committee in three months later, but his nomination was never brought to the full Senate for a confirmation vote despite the advocacy by industry trade groups. With the expiration of the 115th Congress and the start of the 116th Congress in January, all nominations that did not receive final confirmation would need to be submitted anew. Instead, Bright took the job of President and CEO of Structured Finance Industry Group, a trade advocacy group for the securities markets.

 

The U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) issued a statement saying Kasper was “stepping down on Oct. 18 to pursue an opportunity in the private sector.”

 

Seth D. Appleton, HUD’s Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research, will concurrently serve as Ginnie Mae’s Principal Executive Vice President, while Michael Drayne, HUD’s Senior Vice President for Strategic Planning and Policy, will take on the role of Ginnie Mae’s Acting Executive Vice President.

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