Time to Regroup
It's mostly been a year of stinging departures for UBS, which at last count had lost 17 senior bankers from its U.S. operation. Among those to leave: equity capital markets chief Mary Ann Deignan, who joined Citigroup. But UBS has been filling the void with its own raids on investment banking rivals.
The Swiss banking giant recruited Thomas Langford, formerly the head of global energy banking at Morgan Stanley, to run UBS's energy efforts from Houston.
Also from Morgan, the firm rehired Adam Frisch, who had previously spent 13 years with UBS and returns as managing director of the technology, media and telecom investment banking group. And from Deutsche Bank, the firm hired mergers and acquisitions specialist Yusuf Nahmiyas. He will be a managing director in the same group as Frisch.
Still Passionate
She led Wal-Mart Stores' expansion into ventures like prepaid cards, MoneyCenter check-cashing outlets and in-store, bank-branch partnerships. In retiring after nearly nine years with the Bentonville, Ark., retailer, Jane Thompson, who was president of Wal-Mart's financial services arm, remains "very passionate about serving the underserved customer."
Thompson told American Banker in June that she has no specific career plans, but she presumably won't lack for opportunities. Thompson said she is interested in advisory roles at companies large and small, and that there is "still much more to do to provide low-cost options" for consumers.
Under Thompson, Wal-Mart brought SunTrust, Woodforest National Bank and Arvest Bank branches into its stores (Arvest is owned by the Walton family). Also during her tenure, Wal-Mart pursued an industrial loan charter, feeding speculation about the company's designs on banking. The retailer ultimately pulled its application, but Wal-Mart of course remains one of the most closely watched forces in consumer financial services. Thompson last year ranked No.11 on American Banker's list of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Finance.
Amalgamated Hires PE Vet
A lot of private equity guys have been looking to aquire banks. Amalgamated Bank went out and acquired a private equity guy.
Edward Grebow, formerly a managing director at J.C. Flowers, is the new president and CEO at Amalgamated, a union-owned institution in New York with $4.5 billion of assets and some recent stress. Grebow says he intends to raise capital-his target is $100 million-and take the bank outside the current ownership circle.
"Amalgamated, like many other banks, made too many real estate loans that did not go too well that we're now cleaning up," says Grebow, a turnaround specialist who oversaw J.C. Flowers' $25 billion purchase of Sallie Mae.
Grebow's career also includes seven years as an executive vice president at CBS, where he reported to then-Chairman Laurence Tisch.
What's Next for Heidi Miller?
By her own account, Heidi Miller suffered from "existential despair" in the throes of the financial crisis. "I was taken by surprise that the world viewed me as evil," she told fellow bankers at an October 2009 dinner celebrating women in the industry. In the end, she wound up feeling "as proud as ever" of being a banker.
But it is unclear how much longer she will be one. Miller is retiring as head of international operations at JPMorgan Chase as of early 2012. She's looking to do something else, but she hasn't been specific about what.
