Hercules Technology Growth Capital, a specialty finance company for innovative, high-growth venture capital-backed companies, has appointed Melanie Grace as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer.
Grace will oversee Hercules’ legal and compliance functions and serve as corporate secretary. She will report directly to Mark R Harris, Chief Financial Officer of Hercules.
“I am delighted to welcome Melanie to the executive management team,” says Harris. “Her impressive track record, as well as her experiences at the New York Stock Exchange and FINRA, will be a tremendous asset to us as Hercules continues its significant growth.”
For the past three years, Grace served as the chief legal officer and corporate secretary of WHV Investments, an investment adviser in San Francisco, California. At WHV, she also served as interim chief compliance officer and sat on numerous committees, including Management, Operations, Proxy and Chair of the Ethics Committee. Prior to Working at WHV, Grace was the chief counsel at the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) Euronext, where she worked directly with the general counsel and senior legal staff, advising and delivering assistance in areas from corporate transactions, contracts, regulatory filings and compliance.
Before working with NYSE Euronext, she worked as an associate for Fenwick & West in Palo Alto, California, where she represented both public and private companies in public offerings, mergers and acquisitions and securities matters. Prior to attending law school, Ms. Grace was an assistant in the Office of the General Counsel at FINRA where she assisted on matters including Nasdaq delistings and broker/dealer disciplinary actions. Ms. Grace earned a Bachelor and Master of Arts degree in History from the University of California at Riverside and a Juris Doctor from Boston University School of Law. She is a member of the State Bar of California and is a designated Investment Adviser Certified Compliance Professional®.
