- WIB PH
With a prime role in two global exchange mergers last year, Caroline Silver has no problem with name recognition in the sector. As Michael Overlander, the CEO of derivatives broker Sucden Financial told Bloomberg last year, "Her name should be changed to Caroline Gold."
September 18
Caroline Silver
Managing Director, Moelis & Co.
British taxpayers and anyone who finds bank bailouts distasteful should probably thank Caroline Silver for her work last year.
Silver, a London-based managing director at Moelis & Co., played a pivotal role in the restructuring of Co-operative Bank PLC. In June 2013, the £41.1 billion-asset British institution was scrambling to plug a capital shortfall after recording huge losses. After six months of tough negotiations, Silver helped to strike a £1.5 billion recapitalization deal in December. Investors swapped their bonds for a 70% equity stake in Co-operative. Silver's clients, a consortium of hedge funds, emerged owning 35% of the bank.
Co-operative Bank markets itself as a highly ethical company, refusing to lend to companies involved in arms sales, animal testing and fossil-fuel extraction. So the specter of hedge funds owning such a considerable stake unsettled many Co-operative customers. But in the bigger picture, a bank tottering on the brink of collapse was rescued without taxpayer funds, offering a template for future resolutions.
Silver's involvement with Co-operative followed a particularly satisfying year in 2012 in which she advised NYSE Euronext on its $11 billion sale to Intercontinental Exchange. That same year, she helped negotiate a $2.2 billion price for the London Metals Exchange in its sale to Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited. Also last year, she advised Financial Technologies (India) Ltd. on its $150 million sale of the Singapore Mercantile Exchange to Intercontinental.
