Bermuda-based Syncora Holdings Ltd. has announced the appointment of four new independent directors.
William Fitzgerald and Robert Shippee will join the company's Board of Directors and the Boards of its financial guarantee insurance subsidiaries, Syncora Guarantee Inc. (SGI) and Syncora Capital Assurance Inc. (SCAI).
James Gallagher and Frank Puleo will join the Board of SCAI.
Syncora's chairman, Mike Esposito, said: "I am delighted that these four individuals have agreed to serve on the Syncora Boards. Their wealth of risk management, restructuring and credit experience and expertise will be extremely valuable to the company as it completes the remaining elements of its comprehensive restructuring and implements an operational business plan to support the company's ongoing obligations."
Mr. Fitzgerald will be a Class I director and will serve on the company's audit and finance & risk oversight committees. Mr. Shippee will be a Class II director and will sit on the company's finance & risk oversight committee. Directors who serve solely on the Board of SCAI will have observer status on the Syncora and SGI Boards.
Mr. Gallagher will serve as SCAI's representative on the company's audit and finance & risk oversight committees and Mr. Puleo will serve as SCAI's representative on the company's audit and nominating & governance committees.
The four appointments were made following the main transaction agreement between SGI and other financial counterparties to SGI's credit default swap and financial guarantee policies. Following the appointments, the Boards of both Syncora and SGI will have nine members and the Board of SCAI will have 13 members.
Mr. Fitzgerald (45) is the founder of Global Infrastructure LLC. Prior to this, he was a managing director of Nuveen Investments LLC and the chief investment officer of Nuveen Asset Management, a wholly-owned affiliate of Nuveen Investments.
Mr. Shippee (60) has more than 35 years of banking and risk management experience. He is currently a risk consultant for Straumur Investment Bank. From 2001 to 2007, he held senior credit risk management positions in New York and London for Bank of America, and for the prior 30 years held numerous credit and business executive positions in New York, London, Tokyo, and Hong Kong for JP Morgan Chase & Co.
Mr. Gallagher (63) is founder and managing director of Pine Brook Associates LLC, a crisis management and financial consulting company focusing on creditor and litigation trust trusteeships and federal and state court receiverships. During a 30-year career, he has held senior risk management and restructuring positions at NatWest Bank NA, Dresdner Bank AG and Morris-Anderson & Associates Ltd.
Mr. Puleo (63) currently serves as director of Apollo Investment Company, Commercial Industrial Finance Corp., Capital Markets Engineering & Trading Holdings, LLC and SLM Corp.
