Former Colorado Gov. Bill Owens has joined RBS Greenwich Capital to “focus on public policy issues and business development,” the company announced yesterday afternoon.
Owens will work with both public- and private-sector clients, though he declined in an interview to say exactly what he will be doing for the bank. Part of his job, though, will include helping RBS boost its new group created to advise governments on public-private partnerships.
“He will be a valuable contributor to the firm’s success, and will play a key role in driving the development of our infrastructure business in the U.S.,” said Jay Levine, chief executive of RBS Global Banking & Markets NA.
Owens, who finished a second term in January, was also Colorado’s treasurer for four years and served for 12 years on the state Legislature. When he left office, Owens announced that he would join two politically connected Colorado developers in a new real estate venture.
RBS Greenwich Capital is a subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Scotland, which in March hired former Chicago chief financial officer Dana Levenson to lead its North American infrastructure finance and advisory business from Chicago. When Levenson was hired, the bank said that he would hire five or six professionals to join the new advisory group.
Owens said he will work with Levenson’s new group and that he has already advised RBS about some potential P3 work.
RBS’ biggest achievement in the U.S. P3 market so far was serving as one of a half dozen or so banks that helped come up with the $3.8 billion that the consortium of private companies paid Indiana for a 75-year lease of the Indiana toll road.
