ACA's Peter Hill Joins BOA as Head Of Public Finance Investment Banking

20080612wd91b5fb-1-hill-peter.jpg

Peter Hill has joined Bank of America Corp. as managing director and head of public finance investment banking, the bank confirmed yesterday.

Hill, most recently executive vice president and head of public finance at ACA Financial Guaranty Corp., will be based in New York and will report to Kevin Harmon, head of origination for the global rates, currencies, and commodities division at Bank of America.

"Peter is an established public finance banker, having worked in the industry for nearly 26 years," Harmon said. "His depth of expertise will bolster our commitment to serving municipal clients and providing them with best-in-class products and services."

Yesterday, Bank of America confirmed that Coleman Cordell has been hired to be a managing director and the team leader for the Southeast region. He will start at the bank June 30. Earlier this week, market sources said Dominique Piccolo, an ex-UBS banker based in Florida, had also been hired.

Hill will take over a department in transition. On Feb. 19, longtime public finance head Phil Smith resigned to accept an offer to join the firm's neighbor and rival, Wachovia Corp. Just prior to that, Bank of America cut most of LaSalle Financial Services Inc.'s roughly 30-member municipal team following its acquisition of LaSalle Bank Corp. from ABN Amro in a $21 billion transaction.

Prior to ACA, Hill spent 14 years at JPMorgan, most recently serving as head of public finance until he left in 2006. He is well known in the market and a member of both the Municipal Forum of New York and Municipal Analysts Group of New York, a past vice chairman of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, and a past member of the Municipal Executive Committee of the precursor to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, The Bond Market Association.

Hill's announcement joins a raft of other new hires in the municipal market, brought about by the closure of UBS' municipal business, the merger of the JPMorgan and Bear, Stearns & Co. public finance departments, and downsizing at the financial guaranty companies.

Also yesterday, market sources said UBS' health care team had found jobs. According to market sources, former managing directors Rondy Jennings, Robert Junqua, and John Woodward have reportedly agreed to terms with Merrill Lynch & Co. James Kim, a former executive director based in Los Angeles, may also be joining the firm, sources said.

Members of the same group, Joan Marron and another unnamed banker, have joined Morgan Stanley, sources said.

In 2007, UBS ranked sixth among health care senior managers, writing 29 deals for a total of $3.1 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.

Spokespeople for Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley did not return calls seeking comment.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
MORE FROM BOND BUYER