Third Coast Bank (the "Bank"), the wholly owned subsidiary of Third Coast Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE & NYSE Texas: TCBX) ("Third Coast"), has announced the appointment of Laura Rau as Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer.

Rau, who joined Third Coast in January 2026, brings extensive experience in banking, regulatory compliance and the payments industry to her new position. Chief risk officer appointments carry particular weight in banking today, where enterprise risk management and regulatory compliance sit at the center of supervisory expectations for U.S. lenders.

As Chief Risk Officer, Rau leads the Bank's enterprise risk management efforts and is focused on strengthening its risk governance framework. Her work spans the Bank's risk categories and helps keep risk management aligned with the organization's strategic priorities — a mandate that operates within a regulatory environment where U.S. banking agencies have placed sustained emphasis on risk governance and financial crime controls.

"Laura brings broad experience and a deep understanding of risk across a range of financial services organizations," said Bart Caraway, Founder, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Her experience and collaborative approach make her a valuable addition to our leadership team. As Third Coast continues to grow, Laura's leadership will help us maintain a strong risk framework that supports our business and positions us for long-term success."

"Strong risk management should evolve alongside the organization," Rau said. "Our focus is on ensuring that our risk governance framework keeps pace with the business and that our strategy, risk appetite and priorities remain aligned. Ultimately, it is about sound decision-making and responsible, sustainable growth."

Prior to joining Third Coast, Rau served as Chief Compliance Officer at a large regional bank. Her background includes extensive experience in Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering compliance, sanctions, counter-terrorist financing, consumer compliance and compliance management systems — disciplines that form the core of U.S. financial crime compliance obligations for banks.

Rau also brings more than 15 years of experience with Western Union and MoneyGram, including as Head of the Global BSA/AML Program Office. Western Union and MoneyGram are among the world's most widely used money transfer companies, and such businesses operate under BSA/AML obligations of their own, meaning her career bridges the compliance regimes of both banking and payments. In these roles, she worked with teams and regulators in the United States and internationally.

Earlier in her career, Rau worked with the Washington State Gambling Commission and served as an internal auditor with the Federal Reserve Bank — an institution that plays a central role in supervising U.S. banks, adding a supervisory-system perspective to her profile.

With Third Coast's leadership framing a strong risk framework as the foundation for continued growth, how the Bank's risk appetite and governance evolve under Rau will be a thread worth following as the company expands.

Source: GlobalFinTechSeries