Mercantile Bank International Taps Capitol Hill, Goldman Sachs Veteran as New President

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Dec. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Mercantile Bank International (MBI), an innovative payments and digital asset custody bank based in Puerto Rico, today announced the hiring of Eric Edwards to lead its growing U.S. and global banking operations.

Edwards, who has over 25 years of banking and financial services regulatory experience in the private sector and on Capitol Hill, joins MBI as president and will split time between Washington, DC, and San Juan.

“Eric’s deep knowledge of bank and financial services regulatory matters, combined with his business acumen and broad relationships throughout the industry and in the regulatory community, make him the perfect candidate to lead MBI into the future,” said Bo Collins, Chairman of MBI.

Edwards’ experience includes having served as counsel for the Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services, where he played a key role in drafting the Credit CARD Act of 2009. Edwards also advised members of Congress on a broad range of bank regulatory and policy matters, including oversight of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

Previously, he held leadership positions on a variety of committees and personal offices in the House and Senate dating back to the mid-90s. In those various positions, Edwards played a lead role in developing the nation’s first ever anti-money laundering strategy and directed a wide-ranging investigation into the International Monetary Fund.

Edwards comes to MBI from FS Investments, a leading asset manager based in Philadelphia, PA, where he was a Managing Director and Head of Government Affairs. Previously, Edwards was a partner at Crowell & Moring LLP, a Washington, DC, based global law firm, and also served as a Vice President in the Office of Government Affairs for the Goldman Sachs Group.

“We’re excited about what Eric brings to the table. He is an entrepreneur with a deep understanding of bank regulatory matters, especially BSA/AML compliance. This is a rare combination that will serve MBI and its depositors well,” said Rene Carson, MBI’s Chief Legal Officer and Global Head of Compliance.

Edwards received his J.D. and LL.M. (with honors) from the University of Illinois at Chicago (John Marshall), his M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and his B.A. from Purdue University.

About Mercantile Bank International: Mercantile Bank International (MBI) is an innovative payments and digital asset custody bank licensed by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and based in San Juan, with a U.S. and global reach. MBI offers private, corresponding and merchant banking solutions through trust and custody accounts, including the custody of digital assets and funds backed by digital assets. MBI combines these account services with global money transfer and payments capabilities to provide simple, fast and secure money transfers to other financial institution accounts in the U.S. and 135 additional countries in their native currencies.

About Mercantile Global Holdings: Mercantile Global Holdings (MGH) is the parent company of MBI. MGH and its affiliates are building an integrated trading and banking platform enabling customers to efficiently trade, bank, and administer digital assets. Our platform utilizes institutional grade trading technologies and custodial solutions, addressing the long-standing need for true capital markets infrastructure to support institutional investors and professional traders who seek to participate in the digital asset space safely and efficiently.