Citigroup Salutes Veteran-Owned BrokerDealers

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citigroup salutes veteran-owned brokerdealers

In advance of this year’s Veteran’s Day (Wed, Nov 11), BrokerDealer.com salutes Citigroup for its salute to veteran-owned brokerdealers. Citigroup (NYSE:C), is not only one of the world’s leading investment banks, it is also one of the financial industry’s most focused firms when it comes to diversity and inclusion. Citi’s leadership is long recognized for its corporate philosophy that strives to create good will among employees and respect of clients through initiatives that advance job creation and improving standard of living. In that spirit, Citi announced that it worked exclusively with veteran-owned brokerdealer firms to syndicate a recent $1.5 billion bond issuance, clearly showing Citi’s commitment to providing opportunities to the veterans’ community.

In the transaction, which priced on October 23, Citi hired five veteran-owned financial firms to distribute the bonds to investors. The firms comprised Academy Securities, Inc.; CAVU Securities, LLC; Drexel Hamilton, LLC; Mischler Financial Group, Inc.; and Multi-Bank Securities, Inc.

“Citi is proud to support our nation’s veterans and to partner with these firms, all of which executed with excellence and assisted us deliver a very successful transaction,” said Suni Harford, Citi’s Regional Head of Markets for North America. “This deal provides a great example of how companies can partner with veteran-owned businesses to provide opportunities for them to grow and succeed.”

BrokerDealer.com hosts the global financial industry’s most comprehensive database of broker-dealer firms, including comprehensive information for brokerdealers operating in more than 30 countries across the free world

Through the October 23 deal, Citi re-opened a $2 billion issuance originally priced in September, pricing $1.5 billion in additional bonds and bringing the total outstanding securities to $3.5 billion. Investors responded positively to the deal, which Citi hopes will be the first of similar transactions involving veteran-owned firms in the future.

Citigroup Inc., a diversified financial services holding company, provides various financial products and services for consumers, corporations, governments, and institutions worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Global Consumer Banking (GCB) and Institutional Clients Group (ICG).

 

Veteran-Owned BDs Lead CalVet $446 Mil GO Bond Deal

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CalVet GO bond deal brokerdealer blog

BrokerDealer.com blog is honored to profile the select Veteran-owned FINRA firms and their respective roles in helping the State of California Department of Veterans Affairs bring to market CalVet’s upcoming issuance of $446 Million General Obligation Bonds (GO).

The following news release has been excerpted, a link to the full news release follows below..

Treasurer Chiang to Sell $446 Million in Veterans General Obligation Bonds

10/1/2015

SACRAMENTO – California State Treasurer John Chiang is announcing the sale of up to $445,700,000 of Veterans General Obligation Bonds.

“California’s Veterans served our state and nation with honor,” Chiang said. “We owe them a debt of gratitude that this bond sale will begin repaying by way of helping our returning service members and their families realize the American dream of homeownership.”

The General Obligation Bonds are being issued to finance home and farm mortgage loans for California military Veterans under the Farm and Home Purchase Program, administered by the California Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet).

“This is an important bond sale directly aiding California’s Veterans,” said CalVet Secretary Vito Imbasciani, M.D. “I’m proud California offers these bonds as an expression of our thanks to our Veterans and their families for their service and sacrifice.  This General Obligation Bond sale will provide CalVet with funding sufficient to offer home loans to hundreds of California’s Veterans.”

The joint senior managers include: Bank of America Merrill Lynch, which currently employs more than 10,000 Veterans, Guards and Reservists with a major initiative to increase the hiring over the next several years and Academy Securities, a “post 9/11 DVBE broker-dealer” founded by a U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis graduate. Along with these two firms, the underwriting group will also include investment bank Mischler Financial Group, led by battle-decorated West Point grads and the financial industry’s oldest institutional brokerdealer owned and operated by service-disabled veterans, and Drexel Hamilton, LLC, a full-service institutional broker-dealer that “offers meaningful employment opportunities to disabled veterans in the financial services industry.:

“Bank of America has proudly provided financial services to the U.S. Military for 95 years.  With our long history and ongoing commitment to U.S. veterans, we were pleased to be involved in this deal, working with veteran-owned firms in a deal that will benefit former Californian service men and women,” said John Lawlor, head of Municipal Banking & Markets Group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, himself a former U.S. Navy veteran, and graduate of the U.S Naval Academy.

“As the financial industry’s oldest and largest SDV-owned and operated firm and rooted in California, our legacy is dedicated to supporting Veteran initiatives. We are therefore honored to continue our long relationship with the State and to have been selected Co-Senior Manager for this CalVet financing,” said Dean Chamberlain, CEO of Mischler Financial Group.

For the full story, please click here