We’re excited to kick off Q2 by welcoming David Simon to our Senior Advisor ranks and announcing that Mary Dent, a Klaros Senior Advisor since 2022, has taken a new role as General Counsel and Senior Director.
David brings years of experience in payments, banking, and fintech; at Klaros, he’ll be focused on payments, fintech, banking as a service, merchant acquiring, and regulatory remediation.
David was most recently the President and Chief Operating Officer of Newtek Merchant Solutions, a multiplatform payments provider, and an Executive and Board Member of Newtek Bank, NA, where he was instrumental in the bank's acquisition and regulatory approval.
Before joining Newtek, he led Visa’s Global Small Business Team, establishing Visa as the market-share leader in every major geography. Prior to that, he served as CEO of TriStar Payments, where he leveraged banks and processors to distribute corporate funds in the Specialty Finance, Higher Education, and Healthcare sectors. David also served as the Head of Prepaid and Credit Cards and Senior Adviser for Payment Solutions for One West Bank, driving the launch of high-profile card programs. His career includes a 13-year stint at Citigroup in various leadership roles. David began his professional career as Counsel to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, where he concentrated on bank mergers, acquisitions, and electronic commerce matters, including the initial applications for banks and brokers to operate on the Internet. He serves on the Board of Upstate National Bank, NA, and has served as a board member of Newtek Bank, NA. Banamex USA, Citibank (South Dakota), N.A., and Operation Hope.
With more than 30 years leading global companies in the financial services and technology sectors, Mary is an experienced executive and corporate board member who advises Klaros clients on issues related to enterprise risk management, legal, compliance, R&D, tax, and internal audits. In addition to her dual role at Klaros, Mary currently serves on four corporate boards: Vestwell Holdings, Banking Circle US, SeedFi, and Woodruff Sawyer.
Mary served as CEO of Green Dot Bank from 2016 to 2019 and, before that, as General Counsel for Silicon Valley Bank/SVB Financial Group, Insikt, and New Skies Satellites. Earlier in her career, Mary served as Counsel on the Senate Judiciary and Labor Committees.
Klaros remains focused on helping banks and fintechs make their partnerships work as the terrain of partnership becomes increasingly complex. David and Mary bring tremendous experience and expertise to that effort, further strengthening our incredible team of professionals.
As always, if you’d like to chat about innovation, regulation, remediation, or other associated topics, shoot us a note: hello@klaros.com.