Appointments made for top slots at Chemical.

Appointments Made for Top Slots at Chemical

Though there has been no official announcement, decisions have been made on who will fill key corporate and institutional banking posts at the new Chemical Banking Corp., sources said.

The executives will report directly to Mark G. Solow, currently cohead of Manufacturers Hanover Corp.'s global banking group, who will be a member of Chemical's management committee after the merger with Hanover is completed.

Among other things, Mr. Solow will oversee all lending functions at the merged bank.

In at least one case involving Mr. Solow's lieutenants, exact lines of responsibility are still in a state of flux.

Client Areas

Responsibility for managing client relationships will be handled mainly by Robert O'Brien and Maurice Hartigan, who are currently managing directors at Hanover and Chemical, respectively.

It remains to be seen how the merged bank's clients will be divvied up between the two executives, sources said.

Widely Anticipated Move

In general, though, it appears that Mr. O'Brien will be in charge of the bank's so-called credit-intensive clients, while Mr. Hartigan will get the clients with higher credit quality.

In a widely anticipated move, James Lee has been chosen to run the merged bank's syndications desk. He is currently in charge of Chemical's structured finance, syndications, and private placements division.

In that role, Mr. Lee has had responsibility for both the origination and syndication of loans.

Those functions are largely separated at Hanover, and there has been a great deal of speculation about how the merged bank would operate. It now appears that the new Chemical will be something of a hybrid.

In an apparent power-sharing agreement, Mr. O'Brien turned over his contacts with deal firms to Mr. Lee, who will manage those relationships, sources said.

In addition, Mr. Lee will assume control over Hanover's acquisition finance group, when it is combined with Chemical's structured finance operations, according to sources.

As a result, the Chemical executive will continue to have a hand in both loan origination and syndication. Mr. Lee also retains control of private placements.

Continued Responsibilities

Also reporting to Mr. Solow will be Roger Widmann, currently managing director in charge of corporate finance at Chemical.

At the merged bank, Mr. Widmann will continue to be responsible for advisory work in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, leasing, reorganizations, and debtor-in-possession financing.

Darla Moore, who recently left Chemical to head Hanover's restructuring and reorganization group, will report to Mr. Widmann, her former boss at Chemical.

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