Management Team

Mark P. Jacobsen, President & CEO; Co-Founder

Mark P. Jacobsen is a co-founder of Promontory Interfinancial Network and serves as its President and CEO.

Prior to co-founding Promontory Interfinancial Network in mid-2002, Mr. Jacobsen was a partner in the financial services consulting firm of Promontory Financial Group. Before then, he was Chief of Staff at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) from 1999 through 2000. Earlier, Mr. Jacobsen worked as a Managing Director at Bankers Trust Company (later Deutsche Bank), where he focused on risk management issues.

From 1994 until 1998, Mr. Jacobsen served at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), as Special Assistant to the Chief Counsel, Senior Advisor to the Comptroller and finally as Chief of Staff.

He began his career at the law firm of Covington & Burling in Washington, DC. Mr. Jacobsen holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a B.S. in physics from Wheaton College in Illinois.

H.D. Barkett - Managing Dir.

Mr. Barkett is a Managing Director at Promontory Interfinancial Network. He has been involved in banking and financial services for the last twenty-five years, working with financial institutions on issues involving asset/liability management, liquidity management, risk assessment and management, and portfolio hedging. Formerly, he served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing with the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines. Prior to that, Mr. Barkett was Vice President of institutional fixed-income sales with both Shay Financial Services and Paine Webber. Earlier in his career, he created and managed the Financial Strategies group at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas, and held various management positions in investments, sales, and marketing with the bank.

Phil Battey - VP, Legislative & Public Affairs

Mr. Battey is the Vice President of Legislative and Public Affairs at Promontory Interfinancial Network.  Formerly, he was the Director of Public Affairs at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.  Prior to that, he was a public affairs advisor to FDIC Chairmen and to Comptrollers of the Currency.  Earlier in his career, he was director of editorial services at the American Bankers Association and Washington correspondent for the American Banker. 

Mr. Battey earned degrees from Georgetown University and the University of Missouri School of Journalism. 

Marcus M. Brooks - Senior Advisor

Mr. Brooks is a Senior Advisor at Promontory Interfinancial Network.  He established PEP Consultants in 2001 as an industry advisor for insured deposit sweep programs and consulted with over a dozen firms in this specialized field.  Previously, Mr. Brooks enjoyed a 20 year career at Merrill Lynch during which he held a number of positions including president of Merrill Lynch Bank & Trust, Co., director of bank technology, operations and regulatory compliance and Vice President of Product Management for the Merrill Lynch WCMA account. 

Mr. Brooks earned a B.A. from the University of Maryland and is a certified cash manager with the Association of Financial Professionals.

Anthony R. Carlino - Managing Dir.

Mr. Carlino is a Managing Director at Promontory Interfinancial Network. Formerly, he was the CTO at the Merrill Lynch Bank & Trust Company where he was responsible for the implementation of the deposit sweep program and the associated investment and trading systems. Prior to that, Mr. Carlino held various positions within the Private Client group of Merrill Lynch & Company.

Mr. Carlino earned an M.B.A. in Finance from Seton Hall University’s Stillman School of Business and a B.S. in Management from St. Peter’s College.

Brian Christie - VP, Business Alliances

Mr. Christie is the Vice President of Business Alliances at Promontory Interfinancial Network.  Formerly, he was President and co-founder of quantumStream Systems Incorporated.  Prior to that, Mr. Christie was the Director of Asia-Pacific programs at the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise.  Earlier in his career, he worked at Harvard University’s WorldTeach.

Mr. Christie earned an M.B.A. from Georgetown University and a B.A. in Political Science from Miami University. 

John Couric - CFO

Mr. Couric is the Chief Financial Officer for Promontory Interfinancial Network.  Formerly, he was the Vice President Corporate Finance at PSINet, Incorporated.  Prior to that, he was the Manager of Corporate Finance for Bell Atlantic Corporation. Earlier in his career, he was a Securities Compliance Examiner for the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Mr. Couric earned his M.B.A. from George Washington University and his B.S. from the University of Virginia.

Don Daily - VP, Product Mgt. & Risk Mgt.

Mr. Daily is the Vice President of Product Management and Risk Management at Promontory Interfinancial Network. Formerly, he was the Vice President, Fixed Income STP at TLX Trading Network, Incorporated and Director, Fixed Income Exchange design at EPit, Inc. Prior to that, Mr. Daily helped build one of the first Internet corporate bond trading exchanges as Vice President, System Design at BondNet, Inc., later a Division of The Bank of New York. Earlier in his career, he was a Partner, Fixed Income brokerage at Brounoff, Claire & Co.; and a Corporate Bond trader and Syndication manager at DuPont, Walston.

Mr. Daily attended the State University of New York College at Buffalo and Lehman College.

Susan Gayle - Chief Admin. Officer

Dr. Gayle is the Chief Administrative Officer at Promontory Interfinancial Network. Formerly, she was the Vice President of Human Resources for an aviation B2B business, Cordiem, LLC. Prior to that, she was the Director of Human Resources for a large law firm, Howrey, LLP. Earlier, Dr. Gayle worked as a consultant for a premier management consulting firm, Towers Perrin; Director of IS Strategy at Bell Atlantic (renamed Verizon); and was the Vice President of Corporate Resources at CASDE Corporation.

Dr. Gayle earned her degrees from George Washington University.

Ted Hamilton - Sr. Managing Dir.

Mr. Hamilton is a Senior Managing Director at Promontory Interfinancial Network. Formerly, he headed up the Debt Capital Markets Desk at PaineWebber, Inc. He was also responsible for underwriting debt and preferred stock deals for the global banks. Prior to that, Mr. Hamilton was Managing Director and head of Money Markets Origination at Smith Barney where his team designed and implemented a multi-bank deposit sweep program. At Smith Barney he also covered the largest US regional and money center banks. Earlier, he was a Director in Merrill Lynch’s Money Markets Group where he worked on the first multi-bank deposit sweep program. He also covered large regional and money center banks for Merrill Lynch. 

Mr. Hamilton earned a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.

Robert Hyland - VP, Business Operations

Mr. Hyland is the Vice President of Business Operations at Promontory Interfinancial Network.  Formerly, he was the Chief Technology Officer at Cordiem, LLC. Prior to that Mr. Hyland was the Vice President of Technology at NetGrocer and he was a Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Toys "R" Us. Earlier in his career, Mr. Hyland held positions as a Corporate Controller and a Chief Financial Officer.

Mr. Hyland earned his J.D. from Brooklyn Law School and holds two B.A. degrees from the State University of New York, University of Buffalo.

Steve Kinner - Sr. Managing Dir., Sales

Mr. Kinner is the Senior Managing Director at Promontory Interfinancial Network who is responsible for directing sales.  He has more than 27 years of banking experience.  Formerly, Mr. Kinner was a Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines.  Prior to that, Mr. Kinner was the President, Financial Services Division at Oswald Financial, LLC.  Earlier in his career, he was a Managing Director/Senior Vice President, Asset Management at KeyCorp. 

Mr. Kinner earned an M.B.A. from Baldwin Wallace College and a B.S. from the University of Wyoming.

Stephanie Kuroda - VP, Marketing

Ms. Kuroda is the Vice President of Marketing at Promontory Interfinancial Network.  Formerly, she was the Vice President of Marketing at Collaborex, Incorporated, where she helped the company’s founders to launch their new venture and to gain significant funding and press coverage. Prior to that, Ms. Kuroda managed the Strategy & Marketing Department at Howrey, LLP; there she helped the firm to garner broad, third-party recognition as the nation’s premier provider of IP litigation services and as a market leader for its breakthrough advertising.  Earlier, she managed a cross-functional New Products team at General Mills and helped launch marketing initiatives as an Assistant Marketing Manager for Honey Nut Cheerios and Trix cereals. Ms. Kuroda also has “Large Corporate” commercial lending experience and an Asset Recovery background with Bank of Boston. Teams under Ms. Kuroda’s leadership have won widespread recognition (including the advertising industry's coveted ADDY^® awards).

Ms. Kuroda earned her M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and her B.A. from Wellesley College.

Charles “Duffy” Mees - CIO

Mr. Mees is the Chief Information Officer at Promontory Interfinancial Network. Formerly, he was the Chief Information Officer at JetBlue Airways, where he was responsible for all revenue generating and operational support technologies for the $3 billion+ airline. Earlier, he was the Chief Information Officer at Independence Air. He has more than 25 years experience in information technology.

Douglas E. Phillips - VP & General Counsel

Mr. Phillips is Vice President and General Counsel at Promontory Interfinancial Network. He is also the author of The Software License Unveiled (Oxford University Press 2009). He practiced law at Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C., and served as the first President of the Business Software Alliance. He is admitted to the bar in California and the District of Columbia and is a Virginia corporate counsel registrant.

Mr. Phillips received his A.B. magna cum laude from Princeton University. He earned his J.D. from New York University School of Law, which he attended as a Root-Tilden Scholar. He was an editor of the law review and, after law school, he served as a law clerk to Judge Eugene Wright of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Beth Pile - VP, Regulatory Affairs & Client Services

Ms. Pile is the Vice President of Client Services at Promontory Interfinancial Network.  Formerly, she was the Deputy to the Chief of Staff at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).  Earlier, she was a Field Manager and a Bank Examiner with OCC.

Ms. Pile received her B.A. from Drury College.

Arun Shastri – Chief Strategy Officer

Mr. Shastri is the Chief Strategy Officer at Promontory Interfinancial Network. Formerly, he was Managing Principal at ZS Associates, Inc. He was responsible for providing to companies across industries his deep expertise in designing, implementing, and managing sales and marketing objectives, from the strategic to the tactical. Mr. Shastri has over 15 years of experience working with major corporations to develop sophisticated analytical tools and methodologies.

He earned his M.S. in Mathematics from Virginia Tech, and his Ph.D. in Decision Sciences from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.