Meridian Capital Group has named Brian Brooks, a former acting comptroller of the currency, as chairman and chief executive officer, succeeding co-founder Ralph Herzka, effective mid-April. Herzka co-founded Meridian in 1991 and will continue to play a key role in the business as founder and senior chairman, focusing on expanding customer, lender and broker relationships and generating additional revenue growth.
“As we look to institutionalize Meridian as a world-class company and further diversify our revenues, there is no better steward of our future than Brian. He is an outstanding and recognized leader in financial services, and I am excited to work with him to build on our firm’s foundation of unparalleled experience and market intelligence,” Herzka said. “Thanks to the work of our leadership and team, we are positioned well to stand tall and thrive in the service of our stakeholders as the real estate market and regulatory environment evolve.”
Brooks joins Meridian from the law firm O’Melveny and previously held several roles at Fannie Mae, including general counsel and corporate secretary, where he led the overhaul of its corporate governance structure and worked on significant high-profile transactions. He was later appointed to Fannie Mae’s board of directors and served on its risk committee.
He also previously served as the primary regulator of the U.S. national banking system as acting comptroller of the currency. In that capacity, he also served on the board of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and as a voting member of the Financial Stability Oversight Council. Earlier in his career, as vice chairman of OneWest Bank, Brooks played an instrumental role in its resolution and the sale of one of the nation’s largest portfolios of residential mortgages, paving the way for the bank’s sale to the CIT Group.
Meridian President Yoni Goodman will continue in his role and will work with Brooks in an augmented role that will include a focus on broker recruiting, retention and development; corporate M&A; geographic and business line expansion; investment sales strategy and growth and retail leasing strategy and growth.
“I am thrilled to join a top-flight, innovative team in the commercial real estate industry and to partner with Ralph and Yoni to help Meridian build on its respected leadership position,” Brooks said. “I see great potential to revitalize the broker model and enhance the core engine of the firm while investing in adjacent commercial real estate capabilities and strengths.”
Meridian has arranged more than $550 billion in commercial real estate financing for more than 11,000 customers since its founding. The company has repeatedly been the number one commercial mortgage broker by transaction count and a top-five broker by dollar volume.
