The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) says that Dana Robert Levenson, the former Chief Financial Officer for the City of Chicago, has joined the firm as Managing Director to lead its North American Infrastructure Finance and Advisory business.
He will be based in Chicago and will report to Bob McKillip, Managing Director and Head of Corporate Banking and Structured Finance for North America. As Chicago’s Chief Financial Officer, Levenson led the USD1.83 billion sale of the Chicago Skyway and the USD563 million sale of the Chicago Downtown Parking System to private investors.
“Having led a number of innovative infrastructure transactions, Dana has a very strong knowledge of this asset class,” says McKillip. “As CFO for the third largest city in the US, he also understands the political landscape of monetising infrastructure assets.”
“We believe infrastructure is an emerging asset class in this country and as capital markets for these types of assets develop, Dana’s expertise will be invaluable in driving RBS’ growth in this area,” adds Jay Levine, the Chief Executive Officer of RBS’ Global Banking & Markets business in North America.
Prior to his appointment by Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley to the Chief Financial Officer post in September 2004, Levenson was a Managing Director at Bank One in the firm’s Capital Markets group, where he specialised in investment grade securities origination. Previously, he was Managing Director and Head of European High Yield Capital Markets at Bank of America.
Named 2006 Bank of the Year for the Americas by Project Finance International Magazine, RBS has built a specialized team focused on non-energy infrastructure finance in North America. In 2006, the New York-based infrastructure team led the largest-ever toll road infrastructure deal in North America, the USD4.1 billion Macquarie/Cintra-led takeover of a 75-year lease to run the Indiana Toll Road.