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Profile: Robb Evans By Rense, Kirk* It has been a long and winding yellow brick road that has led our firm to where it is today. We’re proud of our story and consider it a privilege to be able to tell it to readers of Receivership News. Looking back at it now, it’s easy to pinpoint when the organization was founded, although it was only years later that it became clear how momentous to me, my family and my colleagues a certain phone call could be. Linda, then my bride of 30 years, and I were checking in at the Marriott Waterfront in Portland, where I was attending a board meeting of Western Independent Bankers, when I was paged. That was in 1991. The biggest news in the banking and business world that July was the world wide seizure by regulators of Bank of Credit and Commerce International, BCCI. It was the largest bank failure in history and held the record as the biggest financial fraud in history until it was bumped down the list by Enron. The call was from Jim Carrig, General Counsel of the California State Banking Department, as it was then called. I knew it had to be something big for Jim to track me down. I had known him for years and knew he was not inclined to make chatty phone calls. His question was straight forward. “You know we seized BCCI last week. Can you spend a few weeks helping us sort it out?” Well, I was not exactly without things to keep me occupied, but this was banking and business history. Without hesitation I said, “You bet. Lunch next week?” He replied, “Sooner would be better.” So, just as soon as the board meeting had adjourned, we headed back to San Francisco. We did have lunch. Separate checks. To make a long story short, I entered into a contract with the State Banking Department to become a Special Deputy Superintendent of Banks. The mission was to manage the liquidation, in coordination with over a hundred other regulatory agencies around the world, of the “Bank of Crooks and Criminals.” BCCI had been consolidating before seizure. Agencies and operations in Florida, Georgia and Texas had been closed and rolled into New York and Los Angeles. This was a big deal, to say the least. But it was something that my banking career had been preparing me for, however inadequately, for decades. I had drifted around the world dealing with troubled and transitional situations for various banks for my entire career. But this was unprecedented. My experience was going to be challenged. What was planned during the next few days was the creation of a single purpose organization to manage a multiplicity of complex assets and sticky legal situations around the country. A similar exercise was going on in New York. But in New York it was managed with state employees. The California Superintendent, Jim Gilleran, decided this situation would best be handled in the private sector. A team of bankers, lawyers and accountants was assembled to manage the project in the midst of the firestorm of the savings and loan industry implosion and real estate melt down. The plan was to do the job, disband the organization and move on with life and/or retirement. Fast forwarding a number of months, we were asked by the federal government to assume responsibility for all of the non-criminal aspects of the BCCI case in the United States. We took over considerable litigation along with the extensive assets seized by the New York State Banking Department. I eventually was named President and sole director of First American Corporation, the Washington D.C. bank holding company founded by Clark Clifford, which was secretly and illegally owned by BCCI. It was a good fit, a great challenge and a wonderful opportunity. I had been a workout guy at Bank of America and been CEO of bank workouts, start ups and turnaround situations in different parts of the world over the years. My background, like that of almost all of the professionals recruited for the project was heavily oriented to both domestic and international banking. None of us on the project initially had any thoughts much beyond the BCCI matter. When Jim Carrig’s several weeks stretched to several years and we were beginning to cut staff and button down for the slow slog to completion, a call came in from counsel for the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington DC. “We understand you guys are bankers and you come very highly recommended by the Department of Justice. We have a difficult situation with a collapsed pension management company. That’s sort of bank-like. Would you take a look at handling it for us?” We took a look and the next thing I knew, in addition to being Trustee for the United States in the BCCI matter, I was Receiver of Qualified Pension Corporation. A few weeks later a similar call came in from the counsel for the SEC in Los Angeles and before we knew it we were appointed Successor Receiver of First Pension Corporation. We looked around and decided maybe we were not just a one act show, but were actually a real organization. We have since handled over a hundred appointments by both Federal and State courts. Almost all nominations were by regulatory agencies or banks. We are very proud that every government agency, law firm or bank that has nominated us for a fiduciary role, has proposed us in a subsequent case. We have since incorporated the organization as Robb Evans & Associates LLC and formed a sister company, REA Consulting, LLC. The consulting company provides litigation support and strategic guidance to banks or their clients. I still refer to the other owners of the firms as “partners” though they are in fact “Members” of the firm. “Partners” is a clear definition of our relationship. “Member” can have several meanings. Fifteen years into this phase of life and business it remains great fun. It is particularly rewarding because of my eight partners in this enterprise and the terrific team they have gathered around us. For a project oriented person this is a great life, particularly when my partners are pulling the laboring oar on the projects. The stability of the organization in an essentially unstable business gives me great comfort. My partners, Srinivasa Krishnan and Cherrie Eustaquio have, literally, been with me since day one. Krishnan is one of the most knowledgeable and competent international bankers I have ever known. Cherrie keeps me and the office running with a professionalism that is all too rare in this day and age. My partner, Kenton Johnson, an associate publisher of this fine publication who bludgeoned me into writing this, joined the team when we took on our first receivership. Kent’s prior career was in banking, including serving as a chief credit officer and as CEO. Brick Kane, a veteran bank COO, CFO and our ultimate jack of all trades, now the firm’s Chief Operating Officer, joined when it looked like the BCCI project was going to run a decade instead of a few weeks. Anita Jen, our superb CFO signed up early on when it became very clear that outsourcing all the accounting work was not going to be economic. She has assembled a great team of CPAs whose forensic work is the backbone of our organization. Jesun Paik joined us based in New York when he retired as senior banking advisor to the Mitsui empire and Vice Chairman of Manufactures Bank. Jesun has been my good friend and confidant since we were both alternate directors of a very “challenging” bank in Paris over 30 years ago. Earl Lanna, who joined us half a dozen years ago, became a Member of the firm on the first of this year. He has a long and distinguished career as a bank chief credit officer and is based in Phoenix. In the midst of all of these ex-bankers are two former government lawyers, who keep quite busy in spite of the fact that we farm out almost all of our legal work. We have sent Linda Candler and Val Miller to reeducation camp and we have them now occasionally thinking like bankers (i.e. logically) instead of like lawyers. Linda, based in Seattle and on an airplane, focuses on international asset recovery. She is a former Assistant U.S. Attorney and a Barrister who practices in British jurisdictions as well as here. Val runs our Las Vegas office and is one of the real authorities on multi-level marketing and other schemes de jour. With a team like that, not to mention our other talented colleagues, I have the opportunity to spend most of my golden years somewhere other than in the office. Actually, I keep my primary office in Bakersfield where I started at Bank of America in 1961, scammed a farmer’s daughter into marrying me in 1962 and where scads of family, not the least of which our two grandkids, live. We decided to return there from the Bay Area when this business permitted us to live anywhere we wanted. We spend as much time as we can at our beach home in Cambria. Looking forward, I see significant opportunities for members of the California Receivers Forum, in the fiduciary world. So, while I will edge slowly toward Cambria and a garden there that needs my attention, I intend to keep in the game to the extent my partners permit. I am learning how to spell “hedge fund” and “sub-prime.” *Robb Evans is Chief Executive Officer of Robb Evans & Associates LLC and REA Consulting LLC. He is a director of Beach Business Bank in Manhattan Beach and BancInsure, an Oklahoma City based insurer of independent banks. He and his wife of 44 years live in Cambria and Bakersfield. He may be contacted at robb_evans@robbevans.com |