Rick Soukoulis

Rick Soukoulis is an American entrepreneur, businessman and tech innovator. He has built and sold three financial technology companies since 1987.
Soukoulis is currently the President and CEO of Western Bancorp, a wholesale mortgage banker serving originators throughout California.
He currently serves on boards for several public and private institutions, including the National Advisory Board of Fannie Mae (since 2014), the board of directors for CityTeam International (2016). He has also served terms on the board of directors for the California Mortgage Bankers Foundation (2003-2004).
Career
Soukoulis career in mortgage banking began in 1981. In 1987 at the age of 25, he founded his first company, America’s Funding Source, and served as CEO until he sold a controlling interest in 1999. During the 1990s at AFS he created the industry’s first product price eligibility engine (PPE) and was an early adopter and developer of video conferencing technology. In 1994, he combined his PPE with video conferencing to create “Instant Access,” a program where home buyers could apply and be pre-approved for loans during a videoconferencing session held in conference rooms of real estate offices over an ISDN phone line.
In 1995 he partnered with Charles Schwab & Co. to create mortgage-shopping software for Schwab customers.
In 1999 he created LoanCity, a new wholesale lending approach based on a business to business (B2B) platform called the Electronic Mortgage Clearinghouse. LoanCity offered a single platform for pricing, processing, underwriting, closing, and the trading of mortgage loans. The company acted as a hub that connected originators with customers, underwriters, and the secondary market, all on a common platform. In 2002, Bank of America acquired the 40% equity stake of the company.
When launched, LoanCity had a valuation of 138 million, and raised a total of 38.4 million from investors such as Morgan Stanley, Robertson Stephens and New Enterprise among others.
In 2008, Soukoulis founded Western Bancorp and helped develop the company’s proprietary lending platform, LMS Xpress. LMS Xpress open-architecture platform, combined with fulfillment services, creates unprecedented efficiencies between mortgage originators and Western Bancorp.
In 2014, Soukoulis was appointed to the National Advisory Board (NAB) of the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA, commonly known as Fannie Mae), a forum held twice a year for lending professionals and government officials to engage in robust dialogue on strategic topics affecting real estate finance. The Board’s focus is to identify opportunities to improve how lenders and Government Sponsored Entities (GSEs) can work together to address industry challenges and achieve their shared business objectives.

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