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In its latest financial stability report, the Federal Reserve found that asset prices continue to exceed underlying fundamentals and leverage levels remain high, especially by hedge funds.

As Vice President, Underwriting Research and Development, Jackie Waas is involved in investigating and developing underwriting innovations, with an emphasis on concept development, research, presenting new ideas, and participating in concept validation activities.

She started her career with RGA in 2018 as Director of Underwriting Services, where she supported direct-to-consumer accelerated offerings, including assisting with the auditing of the e-underwriting program and helping develop digital health scores while supporting the Digital Health Data team.

Prior to joining RGA, Jackie was an Underwriting Business Consultant and automated underwriting systems subject matter expert with Legal & General America for four years after working in an underwriting capacity with the company for nine years. She also had five years of underwriting experience with AXA Equitable and formerly worked as a marketing manager for Steele Rubber Products.

Jackie received a Bachelor of Arts with a major in communications and a minor in psychology from Lenoir-Rhyne University in North Carolina. She is a Certified Fellow of the Academy of Life Underwriting, a Fellow of the Life Management Institute, and a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute. She is also an Associate, Reinsurance Administration; Associate, Insurance Agency Administration; and an Associate, Insurance Regulatory Compliance. Jackie also holds the Professional, Customer Service Institute designation, and she is a member of the Association of Home Office Underwriters.

Guizhou Hu is Vice President, VP, Head of Risk Analytics at RGA, where he supports global RGA underwriting initiatives and produces internal and external thought leadership pieces based on RGA's in-depth risk analytics. Before joining RGA in 2018, Guizhou served as Vice President, Chief Decision Analytics, for Gen Re and as a Senior Vice President for BioSignia Inc. Guizhou holds a medical degree from Beijing Medical University and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Cornell University. 

Taylor Pickett is a Vice President and Actuary at RGA. Taylor currently works as part of the pricing team supporting RGA's US Mortality business, serving as the actuarial subject matter expert for Underwriting Modernization. Taylor assists clients in understanding, incorporating, and evaluating the impacts of emerging underwriting programs and new sources of evidence. His responsibilities include supporting newer underwriting paradigms through program monitoring, data analysis and assumption development. Taylor has over 10 years of life reinsurance experience including roles in valuation, experience studies, research, and pricing. Taylor holds a Master of Science degree in Actuarial Science from Maryville University in St. Louis, Missouri. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's exit from a suit jointly filed with the New York attorney general's office narrows a major subprime lending case.

Even with its IPO on ice, the Swedish buy now/pay later lender is building a base of high-profile distribution partners.

Nic Puckrin is an investment expert and passionate advocate of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. He began his career in a quantitative role at Goldman Sachs, but was attracted by decentralized and permissionless finance. Nic founded Coin Bureau in 2017, which publishes independent crypto-educational content. Today, Coin Bureau operates several media assets, including the largest crypto-focused YouTube channel in the industry, with over 2.6 million subscribers.

The acquisition of the $5.7 billion-asset HarborOne Bancorp would be Eastern's third purchase of a Boston-area bank in the last five years.

Ranjana Clark is the newest member of Texas Capital Bancshares' board of directors; Minnesota's Wings Credit Union and Colorado's Ent Credit Union are merging; Regions Bank adds Angela Santone to its C-suite; and more in this week's banking news roundup.

The Long Island-based regional bank, which reported another quarterly loss Friday, continues to hire in the commercial-and-industrial lending sphere as it seeks to diversify its commercial real estate-heavy business.