Name: Nicholas L. Hayes
Title: Director, Global Relationships at Robert Morris Associates, the commercial lending trade group, since early April.
His charge: Carrying out a directive from an RMA task force to address the increasing globalization of banking and international commerce by offering trade-related credit expertise to members.
Different approach: In the past, contacts between RMA and multinational bank executives have tended to be "fragmented," he says; his goal is to to "use the same approach to Citibank that they take to their customers" by working on a broad base of contacts at the bank and on a variety of issues.
Also, Hayes says his unit will offer key information to smaller member banks "that don't have sophisticated organizations and internationally oriented products." Much of that will be centered in North America. For instance, RMA is developing a book on analyzing Mexican financial statements and is piloting its diagnostic assessment--a test of lender skills--in Canada.
Parlaying skills: Hayes, who has been in banking 25 years, mostly with Citibank, has worked in such overseas venues as Paris, Geneva, Bangkok and Cairo. He's familiar with issues involving line lenders and more specialized businesses like finance companies and derivatives. Spent the last eight years at Bank of California, most recently as senior vice president.
Traveling man: Based in Philadelphia, Hayes will be traveling regularly to New York and points west such as Chicago, San Francisco, Toronto and Mexico City. He's pleased to return to the Northeast, where he grew up and was schooled at Harvard and the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth. "I have lots of friends and family here."
Happiest change: Recalling that his lending area had five exams in one year alone at Bank of California, he says, "I don't have any OCC, any external auditors or any feds to deal with."
