Trump admin taps JPMorgan alum Matt Zames to advise Social Security agency

Former JPMorgan Chase government Matt Zames will be part of the Trump administration as an advisor to the Social Safety company, CNBC has discovered.

Zames is taking an unpaid place to assist his former JPMorgan colleague Frank Bisignano, who grew to become Social Safety commissioner final 12 months, sort out modernization of the company, stated folks with information of the transfer, who requested to not be named as a result of they weren’t approved to debate it publicly.

He begins Monday at Social Safety Administration headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland, the place an workplace placard bearing his identify has already been put in, one of many folks stated.

Zames, a former hedge-fund dealer who rose to prominence at JPMorgan after serving to clear up the financial institution’s $6 billion “London Whale” mess, was its chief working officer for about 5 years. He spearheaded know-how and cost-cutting initiatives on the lender and was seen as a high contender to succeed CEO Jamie Dimon till his departure in 2017.

The subsequent 12 months, Zames grew to become president of personal fairness agency Cerberus, the place he oversaw tech investments and helped flip across the agency’s Deutsche Financial institution stake. After leaving Cerberus in 2021, Zames began an advisory and restructuring agency.

Zames, who has additionally had positions on key Treasury and Federal Reserve advisory teams tied to the debt markets, is becoming a member of an company that depends on decades-old know-how techniques.

Past the know-how points, the SSA is projected to exhaust its retirement belief fund in lower than a decade, which may require profit cuts to tens of millions of People.

As a particular authorities worker, Zames can maintain his new place for 130 days, however that could possibly be unfold over an extended time period as a result of he will not be working full-time, stated one of many folks aware of the transfer.