Mary Watkins, who was head of loan syndications for J.P. Morgan & Co., has changed jobs, the bank confirmed Tuesday.
In a move effective Monday, Ms. Watkins, a 24-year Morgan veteran who headed loan syndications since 1995, is running the bank's private client business in Palm Beach, Fla., a spokesman said.
Taking over her position is Michael Mauer, a managing director who served as head of syndications for North America under Ms. Watkins. He was long seen as her likely successor. He will report to Seth Bernstein, head of credit risk for the Americas.
Neither Ms. Watkins nor Mr. Mauer was available for comment.
Under Ms. Watkins, Morgan rose to No. 3 among syndicated lenders on an agent-only basis, from No. 5, according to Loan Pricing Corp.
In 1998, Ms. Watkins was credited with building a profitable leveraged lending franchise. Morgan had a record year in the category, arranging 17 loans worth $12.7 billion, a 120% increase over 1997.
The departure of Ms. Watkins, who served as head of Morgan's diversity initiative, caught some competitors by surprise because of the timing. Morgan is about to come to market with one of its biggest leveraged lending packages it has syndicated, a $1.3 billion loan for Madison Dearborn Partners.
In her new position, Ms. Watkins reports to Jamie Higgins, global head of the private client business, and Ned Odegaard, head of private client teams.
