WASHINGTON — The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association is recognizing Christopher Hamel, managing director and head of the municipal finance group at RBC Capital Markets, for his contributions to the municipal securities industry.
The group plans to present Hamel with its 2013 Honor Roll Award at a luncheon on Wednesday.
“Today, we honor Chris and thank him for his contributions to our industry,” Stratford Shields, chair of SIFMA’s municipal securities division and a managing director at Morgan Stanley, said in a release. “The municipal securities industry helps build America’s schools, hospitals, roads, and other essential infrastructure. We are pleased to recognize Chris for his important work.”
Hamel is very much involved in the muni finance community, serving as a member and former chairman of SIFMA’s municipal executive committee. He has been a municipal banker for 30 years and head of the muni finance department at his New York-based firm for more than 10 years, according to SIFMA.
Hamel oversees one of the largest muni finance groups in the country, with bankers in 28 cities across the U.S., as well as a 75 person housing tax credit syndication group. He also worked at Rauscher Pierce Refsnes and Dain Rauscher, Inc., for eight years before the firm was acquired by RBC.
Hamel also has taken part in numerous governmental and more general community activities. He currently serves as a trustee of New York’s Citizen Budget Commission and participates in the Association to Better New York.
In recent years, he has served on several boards, including for the National Parks Foundation, where he was Treasurer, and for the City of Phoenix Planning and Zoning Commission. He also chaired the Arizona Commission on Salaries for Elective State Officers. Hamel served in several posts for former Arizona Gov. Bruce Babbitt.
He received a bachelor's degree from Occidental College in Los Angeles.
