Leadership

Tony Renzi was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Common Securitization Solutions in December 2019 and added to the Board of Managers as a Director in January 2020.

As CEO, Tony leads the joint venture that represents the largest and most efficient mortgage securitization service in the world. As a business and technology solutions provider CSS is an indispensable business partner to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac serving as an issuing agent and administrator of their Uniform Mortgage-Backed Security (UMBS) as well as other complex securitization structures. Today CSS supports over 1 million securitizations, backed by over 31 million loans and $6.5 trillion in outstanding mortgage balances.

Tony is an accomplished executive with over 35 years of experience leading top national public and private organizations through dynamic and complex business, operational, and regulatory environments. Prior to joining CSS, he held executive positions as the President and Chief Operating Officer at Cenlar FSB the nation’s largest mortgage sub-servicer; CEO, President and Board Director of Walter Investment/Ditech Holding Corporation, a NYSE traded, top 10 independent mortgage originator and servicer; Senior Managing Director and Chief Operations Officer at Citigroup responsible for CitiMortgage Operations, and Citi’s North America Retail and Commercial Bank operations; Executive Vice President at Freddie Mac responsible for their Single Family Business, Enterprise wide Operations, and Technology; and for 24 years of his career executive leadership positions with GMAC ResCap ultimately serving as President and Chief Operating Officer and Board Director.

Tony has a Bachelor of Arts from Holy Family University and a Master of Business Administration from Thomas Jefferson University.

Al Barbieri is President and Chief Operating Officer of CSS, a position he has held since August 2020. As President, Al oversees the day-to-day running of the firm. Al had served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer since 2017, leading securities processing, product development, client services, customer acquisitions solution team, enterprise project management, and transformation. Al brings over 30 years of experience in housing finance with an emphasis in capital markets fixed-income operations and cash management including 20 years with Fannie Mae in a variety of executive positions, most notably as Senior Vice President where he managed large middle and back-office operations as well as many mission-critical projects.

Earlier in his career, Al held several senior positions responsible for overseeing mortgage securities operations for Wall Street firms such as First Boston, Morgan Stanley, and Nomura Securities. Al also worked on the MBS trading desk at Chase Bank where he traded MBS repurchase agreements. Al attended Queens College New York, is a Certified Treasury Professional designated by The Association for Financial Professionals, and has completed Executive Development Programs at Harvard Business School. Al previously was a member of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s FEDWIRE Securities Customer Advisory Group, and formerly held his Series 7 General Securities Representative license and Series 63 Uniform Securities Agent license.

Lysette Bailey joined CSS in March 2022 as Chief Risk Officer and Senior Vice President.  In this position, Lysette is responsible for all aspects of the organization’s Enterprise Risk Management program, including Governance, Risk Appetite and Taxonomy Framework, Identification, Assessment, Control and Monitoring Processes, and Reporting.

Lysette brings more than 25 years of operational, information security, and information technology risk management experience to CSS.  Prior to joining CSS, she served as Senior Vice President, Chief Operational Risk and Technology Risk Officer at Comerica.  She also served as Vice President, Operational Risk and Technology Risk Officer at Wells Fargo, and Chief Information Security and Operational Risk Officer at BMO Harris Bank.  In addition, she held several senior leadership roles at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, including Director and Chief Information Security Officer.

Lysette has a Bachelor of Science in marketing from Drake University, a Master of Business Administration in finance from DePaul University, and a Master of Science in Information Technology from Northwestern University. She also maintains a Certificate in Delivering Information Services from Harvard University.

Farhad Fariba is Executive Vice President (EVP) and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at CSS, a position he was appointed to by the CSS Board of Managers in August 2023. As EVP and CTO, Farhad is responsible for the development of CSS’s technology strategy while overseeing technology infrastructure, software development, cybersecurity, and emerging technologies. Farhad brings over 25 years of expertise in the technology and financial industries with experience driving innovation, developing scalable business solutions enabled by technology, and leading high-performing teams.

Previously Farhad has held several leadership roles, including Senior Vice President, IT Platforms and Services at Travel & Leisure Co, and Vice President, Technology Shared Services and Service Management at Trellix. Farhad held additional prior leadership roles at companies including McAfee, MGM Resorts International, Freddie Mac, Ally Financial, EDS (HP), Standard and Poors Comstock, and McGraw Hill.

Farhad has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the University of Greenwich in London, England, a Master of Science in Communication Engineering from Imperial College in London, England, and a Ph.D. in Information Technology from the University of Salford IT Institute in Manchester, England.

Jina Hong joined CSS in July 2020 as Chief Audit Executive and Senior Vice President. In this position, she has company-wide oversight for all internal audit related activities. Jina is responsible for evaluating and improving the effectiveness of all governance, risk management, and control processes. She also supports the Board of Managers in its oversight role.

Jina has 20 years of audit experience, mostly recently with HSBC in New York where she was Head of Global Audit Methodology. She has also held leadership positions in Audit at Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, and others in New York, Tokyo, Singapore, and Sydney.

Jina is qualified as a Certified Public Accountant and a Management Accountant. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of New South Wales.

Lea Laman was appointed the Senior Vice President of Securitization Operations in fall of 2022 and joined the CSS Executive Committee in March 2023. In this position Lea leads Production Operations and Product Management teams for the Single-Family Mortgage-Backed Security (SF MBS) business as well as the Enterprise Program Management office

Before joining CSS, Lea spent eight years at Fannie Mae driving large-scale Technology transformation initiatives in Finance and Capital Markets as well as several Program Management roles across the organization. Prior to Fannie Mae, Lea was a Change and Project Management Consultant at Capgemini and Bearing Point.  She is also a founding member of Chief, an organization built to support women in leadership roles, provide professional development across different industries, and drive change for women in the workplace.

Lea has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Allegheny College and a master’s degree from Georgetown University.

Brian McQuaid was appointed Chief Administrative and Diversity Officer and Senior Vice President in December 2019. He leads the full range of human resources activities, including recruitment, staffing, training, and compensation and benefits. He also leads marketing, communications, procurement, corporate facilities, and the Diversity and Inclusion office.

Brian brings many years of human capital experience serving over 13 years at Fannie Mae in senior roles including Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, as Senior Vice President of HR Service Delivery at MCI Telecommunications, and Chief Human Resources Officer at Citizens Bank corporation.

Brian has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in finance from Georgetown University and a Master of Business Administration in human resources management/personnel administration from The George Washington University.

Carol Rakatansky was appointed Chief Legal and Compliance Officer and Senior Vice President in 2016. She is responsible for managing all legal affairs.

Prior to joining CSS, Carol served as Managing Associate General Counsel for Corporate Governance at Freddie Mac, working with the Risk Committee and Board of Directors. She served in multiple leadership positions at Sallie Mae during her 13-year career there, including SVP and Corporate Secretary and earlier as an attorney for mergers and acquisitions and commercial real estate transactions at several law firms, including Katten Muchin Rosenman.

Carol has a Bachelor of Science in psychology from Brown University, a Master of Education in administration, planning, and policy from Harvard University, and her Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center.

Juanita Russell joined CSS in August 2020 as Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President. In this position, Juanita has broad responsibility for all financial activities at the company including controlling, accounting, financial planning and analysis, internal financial controls, and financial statements.

Juanita brings more than 25 years of experience to CSS including 21 years at MERSCORP Holdings, Inc. where she rose through the ranks and served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer from 2011-2018. Most recently she was a consultant with Northstar Financial Consulting Group where she provided her CFO expertise to technology and entertainment companies.

Juanita is a Certified Public Accountant. She has a Bachelor of Science in accounting from the University of Maryland – Robert H. Smith School of Business, and a Master of Business Administration in finance from Columbia Business School.