Vericrest Financial, a financial services company specializing in residential mortgage loans, has appointed Ben Purser to the newly-created role of chief risk officer, effective as of Jan. 7. He will be responsible for all risk management efforts and will focus on operational risk practices, compliance with state and federal agency requirements.

Purser joins Vericrest with 26 years of experience in financial services with focus on risk management, audit, compliance and governance. He most recently served as the chief compliance officer in the Office of Financial Stability at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where he oversaw all compliance-related matters for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). He also developed and implemented control assessment activities related to program compliance, addressed remediation of program compliance issues, and oversaw the Making Home Affordable compliance program used by Freddie Mac as Compliance Agent for Treasury.

Additionally, Purser has served in senior leadership roles at FBR Capital Markets Corporation and Riggs Bank, as well as working in the securities, capital markets and trust branch at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).