New York-based Sprout Mortgage has hired Gregory Walker as its chief compliance officer and general counsel, the company announced.
Walker takes over from Shannon Leight, who moves to the newly created position of chief compliance officer and general counsel for Sprout Lending LLC. He will be based at Sprout’s East Meadow, N.Y., headquarters and will report directly to President Michael Strauss.
“As Sprout continues to expand and strengthen its team to solidify our position as the leading, innovative force in non-QM lending, Gregory brings a depth of experience that will help us to accelerate our strategic expansion plan,” Strauss said in a release.
Walker has more than three decades of legal experience in mortgage financing and securitization. He most recently served as special counsel at Impac Mortgage Co. and previously was chief compliance officer and general counsel at Towne Mortgage Co.
Prior to that, Walker was in-house counsel at Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, managing director and counsel at UBS AG, and executive director and counsel at Morgan Stanley.
“I’m very pleased to join Sprout and look forward to serving as general counsel as the firm continues its impressive growth to become the dominant non-QM lender,” Walker said.