TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Feb. 02, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- F&I Sentinel today announced that Rick Hackett, former Assistant Director of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), has taken on an elevated role with the company by rising from Advisor to a member of the Board of Directors, effective immediately. F&I Sentinel’s Board of Directors unanimously approved Hackett’s nomination to the Board. After serving eight months in an advisory role and seeing the company’s operations and plans firsthand, Hackett accepted the invitation to become more involved by serving as the seventh external member of the Board.

“As a highly respected advisor, Rick provides invaluable insights and guidance to our Board and team,” said F&I Co-Founder and CEO Stephen McDaniel. “His expertise and knowledge in auto financing policy and compliance, coupled with his experience and familiarity working within the CFPB, have enhanced our product and service offerings, ultimately benefiting our customers. When given the opportunity to have Rick join our Board, we jumped at the opportunity to further expand his role with our company.”

Hackett focused on auto lending regulation while serving at the CFPB under former Director Richard Cordray. His responsibilities included advising all CFPB divisions on market information and policy issues in the installment and specialty lending areas, including vehicle financing. Hackett helped lead the CFPB’s initial charter into the auto finance industry, tasked with guiding strategy for examining and investigating dealer participation programs. 

“I saw the writing on the wall and spoke at an industry conference in 2014 about the need for auto finance companies to adopt and execute a comprehensive compliance solution to meet emerging regulatory requirements and policies,” Hackett said. “After serving as an advisor to F&I Sentinel since last May and seeing how F&I Sentinel’s innovative products and services meet this growing need, it was an easy decision to join the company’s Board. It’s doing all the right things.”

Prior to joining F&I Sentinel, Hackett spent 31 years practicing law before joining the CFPB in 2011. He left that agency in 2013, and the next year joined Hudson Cook, LLP, a law firm focused on state and federal consumer and commercial financial services, banking and privacy compliance, regulation, enforcement, and supervision. He retired from Hudson Cook in 2019 and currently serves as an advisor and board member for several companies – now including F&I Sentinel.

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About F&I Sentinel

F&I Sentinel is the automotive industry’s leading compliance and regulatory risk mitigation solutions provider. F&I Sentinel continuously monitors marketplace developments across the United States to ensure that F&I products comply with corporate financing requirements, meet fiscal viability standards, and provide value to the consumer. F&I Sentinel is a privately owned Florida-based company founded in 2018 to serve the automotive finance industry. For more information about our innovative solutions, please visit http://www.fandisentinel.com and follow us on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/f-i-sentinel.