Retiring Yet Untiring
The students and young professionals who attend the annual Black Women on Wall Street summit are grateful every year for Westina Matthews Shatteen, who started the event eight years ago as an extension of the Executive Leadership Council, a group for African-American corporate leaders.But she won special appreciation at this year's gathering, held Tuesday in New York, as she prepares to retire from Merrill Lynch & Co. — now part of Bank of America Corp. — after 24 years with the firm. Matthews Shatteen, managing director for community business development, was the first woman and first person of color elected as a trustee for the Merrill Lynch Foundation. Over the years she has promoted the firm's interests in philanthropy, diversity and educational programs.
A mentor to the end, Matthews Shatteen made the rounds at the Black Women on Wall Street dinner this year with her assistant in tow, providing an on-the-spot reference for the young woman and helping her to network with the other attendees.
Another See-Ya
Colonial BancGroup Inc. continues to lose interest from Wall Street as it grapples with credit issues.Bob Patten, an analyst at Regions Financial Corp.'s Morgan Keegan & Co. Inc., dropped coverage of the Montgomery, Ala., company on Wednesday, saying its diminished market capitalization makes it too small to follow. The market cap finished Thursday at $115.6 million.
Colonial has an agreement to sell a majority stake in itself to Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp. for $300 million. The company is also operating under a cease-and-desist order from regulators and this week agreed to sell its Nevada branches and $440 million in loans.
"We remain negatively biased" toward Colonial stock, Patten wrote in his final note to clients, "as the ultimate outcome from the potential deal … remains highly uncertain. While closing this transaction would be an important first step for the bank to stay independent, though this comes at the cost of massive dilution for existing shareholders, there are further challenges that management faces."
Patton joins Sterne Agee & Leach Co. analyst Adam Barkstrom in dropping Colonial, which is being followed by six analysts, according to Thomson Reuters.
Landing Pad
Another former Wachovia Corp. veteran has found new employment.Greg Jones is leading private capital advisory efforts at Fennebresque & Co. LLC, a privately owned investment bank in Charlotte, after joining late last month, the company said. Jones, who had been a senior officer in the leveraged finance group at Wachovia Securities, will focus on helping clients raise capital and issue debt.
Wells Fargo & Co. bought Wachovia last fall.
