• Kristina Janssens becomes Comerica chief risk officer, effective Friday
• Former CCO at Comerica and ex Flagstar compliance leader
• Succeeds Brian Goldman, with Melinda Chausse serving interim
• Reports to CEO Curt Farmer amid heightened supervisory scrutiny
• OCC cited unsafe practices and demanded governance remediation
• Issues linked to trust unit platform upgrade and control gaps
• OCC ordered stronger third party risk and IT control programs
• Direct Express exit followed vendor controversy and Treasury changes
• CFPB lawsuit alleges failures and junk fees for cardholders
• Activist pressure and cost cuts frame Comerica’s efficiency push

Comerica’s new chief risk officer, Kristina Janssens, has begun work after the Dallas-based lender announced her promotion at the start of last week.

Janssens succeeds Brian Goldman, who departed in May to become risk chief at USAA. Chief credit officer Melinda Chausse had served as interim CRO in the intervening months. Janssens will report directly to Comerica CEO Curt Farmer.

Before joining Comerica in 2023, Janssens spent nine years at Flagstar, first as deputy general counsel and later as chief compliance officer, according to her public profile. 

The move places a seasoned compliance leader at the centre of a risk agenda reshaped by recent supervisory actions and operational missteps.

In April 2024, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency faulted a Comerica subsidiary for unsafe or unsound practices in its risk governance framework and internal controls. 

The order required the bank to form a compliance committee, strengthen board oversight and implement a corporate governance program. 

Analysts tied the action to problems within the trust unit following a 2023 wealth-management platform upgrade that triggered widespread transaction errors and left the bank overdrawing its own accounts by millions.

Alongside governance fixes, the OCC directed Comerica to adopt a stronger third-party risk program, enhance internal audit and bolster controls, including a program to mitigate risks related to information-technology assets. 

The mandates arrive as the bank contends with the aftermath of its long-running role as Treasury’s financial agent for the Direct Express prepaid card.

Comerica told investors last year it would no longer serve as the program’s bank partner after controversy over a vendor, i2c, handling fraud disputes and cardholder data from an office in Pakistan, contrary to Treasury’s U.S.-based service requirements reported at the time. 

Treasury later selected BNY to assume the role beginning January, then discontinued that agreement over provider readiness issues, and chose Fifth Third on a five-year term starting this month.

The episode also drew consumer-protection heat. In November, Comerica sued the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, calling its probe into Direct Express “aggressive and overreaching.” 

The CFPB subsequently filed its own lawsuit, alleging the bank “systematically failed” 3.4 million federal benefits recipients through poor service and illegal junk fees. 

An earlier CFPB case against the bank was dropped during the Trump administration without prejudice, preserving the option to refile.

Investor pressure is building, too. Comerica has faced calls from activists to consider a sale. 

Farmer, speaking at a recent conference, said the bank is scrutinising expenses in real estate, headcount, technology and third-party spending as it works to improve its efficiency ratio.

For Janssens, the near-term brief is clear: stabilise governance, accelerate remediation and knit risk, compliance and business lines more tightly as regulators and investors watch. 

The appointment ends a months-long gap in a pivotal role and signals an emphasis on compliance-driven credibility as Comerica navigates litigation, oversight and cost discipline.