People’s United Bank announced that 22-year finance veteran Robert Reynolds has joined the firm to expand its institutional trust team and open a second office for the division.
Reynolds, who joined the firm as a vice president and senior institutional trust officer, is currently working from Norwich, Conn., and looks to open an office in Hartford.
He said he would be “administering all types of public finance transactions,” including trustee work for bond deals from nonprofits, municipalities, health and education authorities, and school loan authorities.
“The office here that I’m starting for People’s will also be doing escrow and custody work as well, and incorporating trustee work on corporate bonds,” Reynolds added.
As bond trustee, People’s United monitors the trust estate created by the issuance of bonds for compliance with the trust agreement and other governing documents.
The bank has been trustee on five public finance deals this year totaling $245.7 million, ranking it eighth in the Northeast, according to Thomson Reuters.
It has 800 institutional clients in the New England region, Reynolds said, adding that the division’s new location will grow depending on demand.
People’s is a Connecticut-based financial services company with $22 billion in assets and 300 commercial branches throughout the region. It claims to be the largest regional bank in New England.
Reynolds, a lifelong Connecticut resident, joined People’s United in June after spending nine years at Wells Fargo, where he was a vice president and relationship manager. He departed in December, and during the interim he spent three months at Wilmington Trust Co.
Prior to Wells Fargo, Reynolds spent four years at State Street Corp., and his career in banking began in 1988 at Fleet Financial Group.
He holds the professional designation of Certified Corporate Trust Specialist and is a member of the Connecticut Government Finance Officers Association.
People’s United Financial Inc., the bank’s parent which was founded in 1842, transformed in April 2007 from a mutual holding company to a publicly traded entity.
It raised $3.44 billion in its initial public offering and has been using the capital to acquire regional banks and expand in its existing footprint.
In July, it announced the acquisitions of Hauppauge, N.Y.-based Bank of Smithtown, and North Andover, Mass.-based RiverBank.
