Fifth Third Hires Senate Banking Staffer as Top Legal Officer

Fifth Third Bancorp in Cincinnati has a new chief legal officer.

The company on Thursday announced it has hired Jelena McWilliams for the role. McWilliams has served for four years as a staff member on the Senate Banking Committee in roles including chief counsel and deputy staff director.

She also previously worked at the Federal Reserve in the community and consumer affairs division. Before that she practiced corporate law.

McWilliams will join the $143 billion-asset company on Monday and will report directly to CEO Greg Carmichael.

The announcement comes months after Fifth Third made headlines for firing Heather Russell, its previous chief legal officer. Russell was let go in July for what the company described as a conflict of interest. Weeks later, Russell revealed to the Wall Street Journal that she had been terminated after disclosing a personal relationship with Timothy Mayopoulos, the CEO of Fannie Mae.

Russell was hired in October as head of financial institutions regulation at the Washington law firm BuckleySandler.