Wilmington Trust Newsroom

New team hired to expand corporate trust services including public finance and escrow agency across Southeast U.S.

BIRMINGHAM, ALA — Wilmington Trust has opened an office in Birmingham, Ala., as part of an expansion in corporate trust services in the Southeastern United States. Six industry veterans have been hired to provide public finance and escrow agency services across the Southeast due to increasing demand for municipal bond market and escrow services.

 
The Southeast expansion is the latest phase of a build-out of corporate and institutional services across the U.S. by Wilmington Trust, N.A. The office is part of Wilmington Trust’s Global Capital Markets division, which provides services for institutional and corporate clients including acting as trustee, registrar, and paying agent on a wide array of municipal and corporate bond transactions utilizing a single point of contact model.
 
The Birmingham team will report to Robert Brown, administrative vice president of Wilmington Trust’s Public Finance and Agency group.
 
“We’re very pleased to bring this established team of industry veterans to Wilmington Trust,” said Brown. “This team represents decades of experience in the corporate trust and escrow space. The Birmingham team enjoys a strong reputation in the region, which benefits our Southeast expansion and complements our national public finance practice.”
 
“Global Capital Markets looks for opportunities to grow in markets where we can differentiate ourselves through dedicated client service, which comes from seeking the best talent in the industry,” said Jack Beeson, head of the Global Capital Markets division. “Our rapid growth over the past decade is due in large part to our talented staff.”
 
Wilmington Trust’s Birmingham office is currently located in Financial Center at 505 North 20th St., Suite 350 in Birmingham.
 
Comprising the Public Finance team are:

• Cynthia Duke
• Ann Harris-Johnson
• Caroline Oakes
• Kara Lee Partin

The Escrow Agency team is:

• Donald Evans
• Jean Dobbins

CYNTHIA DUKE: Relationship Manager, Public Finance
Cindy Duke will manage corporate trust client relationships throughout the Southeast. She joins Wilmington Trust from Regions Bank where she was a team leader overseeing a diverse portfolio of municipal bonds, custody accounts, and defeasance escrows. She has more than 30 years of experience in corporate administration and operations, all at Regions Bank. Duke specializes in working with municipalities, school boards, utilities, and hospitals.
 
Duke received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Montevallo, and she holds the designation of Certified Corporate Trust Specialist.
 
She can be contacted at (205)438-7184.
 
ANN HARRIS-JOHNSON: Relationship Manager, Public Finance
Ann Harris-Johnson has over 35 years of experience in corporate trust and public finance. She will manage corporate trust client relationships throughout the Southeast. Prior to joining Wilmington Trust, she was a team leader and corporate trust relationship manager at Regions Bank. Before that she was employed in various corporate trust roles at the Bank of New York, AmSouth Bank, and South Trust Bank. She specializes in working with municipal issuers, school boards, universities, utility districts, and multi-family housing projects.
 
Harris-Johnson earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of West Georgia, and holds the Certified Corporate Trust Specialist designation.
 
She can be reached at (205)438-7183.
 
CAROLINE OAKES: Relationship Manager, Public Finance
Caroline Oakes will manage corporate trust client relationships throughout the Southeast. Prior to joining the Wilmington Trust team, she was senior vice president and trust officer for Regions Bank. Previously, she worked at Wachovia Bank and First American National Bank. She has nearly 30 years of experience in corporate trust and public finance, including municipal and corporate debt financing including general obligation, higher education, healthcare, utility districts, and unsecured debt for publicly-held companies.
 
She received a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Tennessee, and holds the designation of Certified Corporate Trust Specialist.
 
Oakes can be contacted at (205)918-7459.
 
KARA LEE PARTIN: Relationship Manager, Public Finance
Kara Lee Partin will manage corporate trust client relationships throughout the Southeast. Previously, she was a relationship consultant at Regions Bank prior to joining Wilmington Trust. She has more than 25 years of experience in corporate trust and public finance in both administration and compliance roles. She has worked with a wide range of clients including municipal issuers, student housing developers, school boards, universities, utility districts, and hospitals.
 
Partin received an MBA from Samford University, and a bachelor’s degree in Finance and Investments from the University of Alabama in Birmingham. She also holds the Certified Corporate Trust Specialist designation.
 
She can be reached at (205)918-7457.
 
DONALD EVANS: Escrow Services Manager
Don Evans will manage the Escrow Services department in the Birmingham office, leveraging his extensive experience in M&A escrows and 1031 exchanges. Previously, he worked for Regions Bank as escrow services manager. Before that he worked in the same capacity for SouthTrust Bank. Earlier in his career, Evans served as a law clerk for Alabama Circuit Court Judge William J. Wynn. He has over 15 years of corporate trust experience with an emphasis on non-bond escrows, custodial transactions, and 1031 like-kind exchanges.
 
He earned a Juris Doctor from the Birmingham School of Law, and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Southern Mississippi.
 
Evans can be contacted at (205)918-7462.
 
JEAN DOBBINS: Relationship Manager, Escrow Services
Jean Dobbins will manage escrow account clients throughout the Southeast. Before joining Wilmington Trust, she was an escrow services relationship manager for Regions Bank, where she worked in various corporate trust and credit roles since 2001. Earlier in her career, Dobbins was a law librarian for 12 years at a Birmingham law firm.
 
She attended Jefferson State Junior College.
 
Dobbins can be reached at (205)918-7461.