UMB Bank, the banking subsidiary of UMB Financial Corp., added four former Wells Fargo executives in a move to expand its business in Minneapolis.
Gavin Wilkinson, Virginia Housum, Michael Slade and Gordon Gendler will join UMB’s Lorna Gleason to form the company’s corporate trust office in Minneapolis, UMB said in a press release Thursday. The main focus of the office is to serve as successor trustee for distressed and defaulted municipals.
“The addition of these highly capable associates is an exciting development for UMB’s Institutional Asset Management Division as we build our presence in the distressed and default workout space and expand our footprint into Minneapolis,” Todd Duncan, president of institutional asset management for UMB, said in the announcement.
Wilkinson, who at Wells Fargo acted as trustee to bondholders in bond insurer Ambac Assurance Corp.’s Vegas Monorail bonds case, will lead the team as manager of special accounts. He will be responsible for overseeing a diverse portfolio of distressed debt for which UMB serves as indentured trustee, UMB said. Prior to working in corporate trust, Wilkinson practiced securities fraud and antitrust law, according to the announcement.
“The level of experience, expertise and service this group provides on behalf of an indenture trustee in a workout situation is unparalleled,” Mark Flannagan, director of legal, compliance and special accounts for UMB Institutional Asset Management, said in the release.
Before joining UMB, Housum spent 10 years as a municipal bond workout specialist, involved in defaults of hotels, multifamily housing facilities, sports arenas and other facilities funded through public finance. Prior to that, Housum was a partner at Dorsey & Whitney, LLP for 13 years, UMBa said in the press release.
Gendler, also a former Dorsey lawyer in Minneapolis, held several corporate trust related positions before joining UMB, according to the announcement. Slade managed municipal bond indentures involving industrial revenue, tax increment and higher education before joining UMB, the release said. Slade also practiced law at Rider Bennett in Minneapolis.
