Appointments: November 2014

David Bobker

1) Argyle, DG3’s corporate governance advisory division, has appointed David Bobker as advisory director.

Bobker was most recently a senior vice president at AST Phoenix Advisors. Before joining AST, he spent seven years with Georgeson, and was one of the founders of Laurel Hill Advisors.

He has provided tailored corporate governance and advisory services to a broad range of issuers and has led dozens of high-profile corporate actions and proxy fights. He also has expertise in shareholder engagement, executive compensation and equity compensation plans. He is a member of the Society of Corporate Secretaries and Governance Professionals and National Investor Relations Institute.

Bobker holds a BA from the New York Institute of Technology. 

Pete Lodwick

2) The Container Store has appointed Pete Lodwick as vice president and general counsel. He will lead both internal and external teams responsible for legal strategy, regulatory affairs and corporate compliance.

Before joining The Container Store, Lodwick spent 34 years at Dallas-based law firm Thompson & Knight in the corporate and securities department, specializing in mergers and acquisitions, SEC compliance, representation of special committees and audit committees and board governance matters.

He earned a degree in finance from Southern Methodist University and has a JD from SMU’s Dedman School of Law. He is also a member of SMU’s Alumni Board and Board of Trustees, the Salesmanship Club of Dallas and on the Board of Governors at the Dallas Country Club.

Brian Brooks

3) Fannie Mae has appointed Brian Brooks, as executive vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary. He is joining Fannie Mae from OneWest Bank, where he was vice chairman and chief legal officer.

Brooks has more than 20 years of legal and business experience. At OneWest Bank he advised executive management and the board on all key legal, risk, and strategic issues, developed and implemented strategies to manage litigation and government inquiries and led the bank’s compliance with regulatory orders on mortgage servicing and foreclosures.

Prior to OneWest Bank, he was a managing partner at the global law firm O’Melveny & Myers, where he led an office of more than 150 attorneys and played a leading role in composing the banking industry’s response to the 2010-2011 foreclosure crisis.

Brooks received his law degree with honors from the University of Chicago and holds a BA in Government from Harvard University.

Roger Burston

4) Roger Burston has been appointed as human resources advisor to the chairman and assistant corporate secretary for Global Bank Group, where he will work closely with President Ron Nechemia to build the leadership of the Bank. The sponsor of Global Bank is the EurOrient Financial Group (EurOrient), a private sector global development finance institution accredited by UN General Assembly.

Burston will be responsible for managing the Office of The Secretary, including senior management and Board appointments, and will provide HR business partner support to the Executive Board members and compensation policy/reviews regarding the president, vice presidents and board of directors. He will also support succession management and the administrative tribunal process.

As manager of compensation and benefits at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for 10 years, Burston designed and implemented human resource policies. He served as director of compensation and benefits at Asian Development Bank from 2001 to 2006 before becoming assistant corporate secretary in 2006.. He served as head of the compensation and benefits division at the International Monetary Fund from 2009 to 2010, after which he became HR business partner in the IMF’s HR department and eventually senior HR advisor.

He holds an Accounting degree from Harrow Business School, Middlesex University.

5) Kelso Technologies, the Vancouver-based railroad equipment supplier, has appointed Kathy Love as corporate secretary.

Love has more than 20 years of experience in the corporate world as a paralegal specialist at securities firms. In 2003, she joined the Lundin Group of Companies in Vancouver, BC, serving as corporate secretary of a number of publicly traded companies that Lundin managed, including Red Back Mining until its takeover by Kinross Gold Corp in September 2010. Most recently, Love served as corporate secretary at Orca Gold.

Kelso shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on October 14, 2014 under the trading symbol ‘KIQ’ and will continue to trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol ‘KLS.’

6) Zillow has promoted Brad Owens to the position of general counsel, overseeing the company’s legal affairs and corporate governance. Owens joined Zillow in 2012 as corporate counsel, playing a key role in the company’s acquisitions. He most recently served as assistant general counsel and will continue to report to Chief Operating Officer Kathleen Philips.

Prior to joining Zillow, Owens was an associate at Perkins Coie, where he assisted with Zillow’s IPO. From 2002 to 2007, he worked as special counsel at the SEC.

He holds a BS in Economics from Vanderbilt University and a JD from The George Washington University Law School.