Former Pentagon press secretary and Bloomberg correspondent Peter Cook has been named EVP and chief communications officer at the American Bankers Association, effective April 17, the association said today.
Cook comes to ABA following service in a dual role at the Department of Defense, serving both as the Pentagon’s press secretary and as assistant to the secretary for public affairs — the principal adviser to former Secretary Ash Carter on all communications and media relations and head of a 2,000-person public affairs unit.
He previously spent two decades in broadcast journalism. He was chief Washington correspondent for Bloomberg Television, in which capacity he covered the 2008 financial crisis and Dodd-Frank Act in depth, and a reporter and producer for NBC News and MSNBC. He started his career as an award-winning local television anchor in Idaho, Virginia and North Carolina.
“Peter’s career covering the intersection of business and government has given him extensive knowledge of the financial services sector, policy and regulation,” said ABA President and CEO Rob Nichols. “His experience makes him the perfect choice to lead a communications department that serves as the voice for America’s critically important banking industry and its 2 million employees.”
