As of Wednesday (Sept. 19), the Coinbase exchange has announced they have a brand new Chief Legal Officer. Brian Brooks, who was formerly the Fannie Mac General Counsel, will take on the role with the popular cryptocurrency exchange, per a Coinbase announcement. Brooks brings an extensive resume with him to the new role with Coinbase. He was not only General Counsel with Fannie Mae but also served in the roles of Corporate Secretary and Executive Vice President. Fannie Mae, which is fully known as the U.S Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), provides bundled bonds to sell to various investors. These bonds are made up from qualifying mortgages which Fannie Mae purchases from lenders. The association reported that they provided $570 billion overall in terms of mortgage financing just last year. In addition to his work with Fannie Mae, Brian Brooks also worked with OneWest Bank, N.A. to help manage regulatory relationships. He was also a senior advisor for the OneWest Bank CEO. Ahead of those positions, Financial Services Practices Group and O'Melveny & Myers LLP were on Brooks' manager as he worked in managerial positions at each of these companies. With Brooks moving into the new role at Coinbase, it means that the previous leader of legal functions there, Mike Lempres, moves to a new role. Lempres will now be in charge of leading the government affairs program at Coinbase. He'll manage the Coinbase political action committee (PAC), and also lead Coinbase's efforts in the new Blockchain Association. The Blockchain Association was just recently formed in September. The new association was created by various blockchain and crypto companies within America and is based out in the Washington, D.C. area. Coinbase is considered a founding member of the new association which will lobby for the blockchain industry within Washington, D.C. and elsewhere. In addition to the news of Brooks becoming new Chief Legal Officer, Coinbase announced a new vice president of data this past week. Former LinkedIn executive Michael Li will take on that role for the cryptocurrency exchange. When he commented on his new position, Li gave important thoughts regarding the role of data at Coinbase. He believes that data is "essential" to furthering the Coinbase mission. In addition, he thinks the way that data is handled will help establish Coinbase as one of "the most trusted and easiest-to-use" services in the world of cryptocurrency. These two announcements at Coinbase follow last month's decision to hire former Amazon Web Services an Microsoft employee Tim Wagner for the role of vice-president of engineering. Wagner will help lead the way as the Coinbase engineers look to create "an open financial system for the world." More information about the exchange is available at the Coinbase.com website.