Lester Brafman has served as Chief Executive Officer of Cohen & Company, Inc. and Cohen & Company, LLC since 2013. Mr. Brafman also serves on the Board of Directors of Cohen & Company Financial (Europe) Ltd, and as Chief Executive Officer of Cohen & Company Securities, LLC, the Company’s broker-dealer subsidiary. Prior to joining Cohen & Company, Mr. Brafman spent 11 years at Goldman Sachs where he served as Chief Operating Officer of Credit and Mortgage Trading and as Head of High Yield and Distressed Trading. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs in 2001, Mr. Brafman spent over six years at Credit Suisse First Boston, holding numerous positions, including Head of High Yield Trading and Head of Emerging Market and Sovereign Trading. Mr. Brafman also spent several years at Wasserstein Perella & Co. and Lehman Brothers. Mr. Brafman received a B.A. from Columbia University and an M.B.A. from the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration, Dartmouth College.