Eastern in Mass. elevates roles of general counsel, risk management exec

Eastern Bank in Boston has added two senior executives to its management committee, including a former deputy director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Kathleen Henry, the $11 billion-asset bank's general counsel and corporate secretary, and Steven Antonakes, director of enterprise risk management, were also promoted to become executive vice presidents.

“Although relatively recent additions to our management team, both Kathy and Steve have had a significant, positive impact upon our risk management and governance practices,” Robert Rivers, Eastern's chairman and CEO, said in a a press release Wednesday. “Their extensive industry experiences and broad perspectives will be greatly additive to our discussion of various strategic issues.”

Kathy Henry
June 20, 2017. Boston, MA. Eastern Bank staff portraits. Kathy Henry. © 2017 Marilyn Humphries

Eastern’s management committee includes a dozen senior executives. Half of the members are women and minorities; a third of the group's members are younger than 50.

Henry joined Eastern in 2016. She was previously general counsel and deputy general counsel at Plymouth Rock Assurance. Before that, she was a litigation lawyer at Choate, Hall & Stewart.

Antonakes joined the bank in 2015 as its chief compliance officer; he was promoted to director of enterprise risk management in September. Before joining Eastern, he was the deputy director and associate director for supervision, enforcement and fair lending at the CFPB, the agency's second-highest-ranking official.

Before joining the CFPB, Antonakes was the banking commissioner in Massachusetts. He began his regulatory career as an entry-level bank examiner in 1990.

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