NEW YORK, Aug. 19, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Siebert Williams Shank & Co. (SWS) has announced promotions that expand the firm’s senior leadership structure, naming veteran bankers Gary Hall and Sobani Warner as new Co-Presidents, effective Sept. 1, 2025. Keith Richard, who currently heads the Southwest Region, will assume the role of Head of Public Finance, while Ahmad Ismail will assume the position of Co-Head of Corporate Finance alongside industry veteran David Finkelstein.
Suzanne Shank, who co-founded the firm together with Wall Street icon Muriel Siebert, will continue in her role as CEO.
As Co-Presidents, Gary Hall and Sobani Warner will provide greater focus on client acquisition strategies, technology and responsiveness to significant regulatory and economic shifts. This will also enable Ms. Shank to expand her focus on client relationships across the 27-plus cities where the firm maintains an increasing market presence.
“With today’s announcement we are enhancing Siebert Williams Shank’s capacity to balance key leadership functions and positioning the firm for its next stage of growth,” Shank said. “Gary Hall and Sobani Warner have been key elements of growing the firm’s platform and will provide our leadership and banking teams with even greater depth and expertise. I also have great confidence in Keith Richard and Ahmad Ismail, who will now step forward to play enhanced senior management roles with the firm.”
The move marks the next step in SWS’ evolution since a 2015 expansion of the partnership and a 2019 merger that brought together Siebert Cisneros Shank and Williams Capital Group. Since the merger, SWS has built upon its reputation as one of the most significant players in U.S. infrastructure development and corporate liquidity management. With dual headquarters in New York, NY and Oakland, CA, the firm has increased headcount by 80% since 2019 and has grown to include 27 offices nationwide.
Since 2019 SWS’ corporate fixed-income revenues are up 51%, driven by 73 new corporate clients. The firm is a dealer on 57 commercial paper programs, up 39% since 2019, with lead manager roles for countless blue-chip clients.
Meanwhile, public finance revenues in 2024 were 115% higher than in 2019, with the growth driven by 25 senior-managed deals greater than $1 billion since 2019.
Hall joined SWS in 2013 as National Head of Public Finance Banking. Prior to that, his professional career spanned more than three decades and included key roles in investment banking, private equity, law and government, including with JPMorgan’s Public Finance-Investment Banking Group and the M&A Group of Banc One Capital Markets. On the industry level, he has served on the Board of the Securities Industry and Financial Marketing Association (SIFMA), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) Fixed Income Advisory Committee, Milken Institute Public Finance Advisory Board, and the Corporate Affiliate Board of the National Association of State Treasurers (NAST). He is also former Chairman of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB), the self-regulatory organization that safeguards the $4 trillion municipal securities industry. Mr. Hall will be splitting time between the firm’s Oakland and Chicago offices.
“I am looking forward to continuing to partner with Suzanne and now, Sobani, in this new role to make SWS and all of the Shank Williams Cisneros companies the best they can be,” Hall said.
Prior to her 2023 promotion to Co-Head of Corporate Finance, Warner was Head of Equities at SWS, a position she held since 2015. A 30-year industry veteran, she joined the company from Bear Stearns where she covered Latin American markets, after beginning her career at JPMorgan. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Jackie Robinson Foundation and President of the Siebert Williams Shank Foundation.
“I am honored to be a part of this new chapter in the evolution of SWS and to be able to work in this new capacity with all of the amazing people that make our firm great,” Warner said.
Keith Richard has spearheaded SWS’ expanding Southwest Region since 2016, leading to the firm being a perennial top-five-ranked senior manager in municipal underwriting. He has served as lead banker on more than $20 billion in senior-managed par amount, delivering innovative financing solutions to state agencies, cities, counties, school districts, higher education institutions and transportation entities. Prior to joining SWS, Richard held senior roles at Morgan Stanley, Banc of America, Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers.
“I’m really excited to take on this new leadership role at the firm,” Richard said. “We are in the middle of a historic period in terms of muni bonds volume for the industry, and I’m determined to keep broadening our public finance platform to ensure it remains best in class.”
Ahmad Ismail joined SWS in 2023 as a Managing Director with over a decade of capital markets and investment banking experience across leading global platforms, including SMBC Nikko and JPMorgan. He has originated and executed investment-grade debt offerings across Utilities, Energy, Natural Resources, Specialty Finance, Technology, Consumer and International USD funders, guiding issuers and investors through every stage of the primary market process. Ismail’s technical capabilities with debt, capital markets and new business strategies will complement David Finkelstein’s robust corporate experience to build broader client coverage.
“The growth this firm has undergone over the last couple of years has been really remarkable,” Ismail said. “I’m looking forward to helping David lead a team that is delivering the highest quality execution for our corporate clients.”
In 2015, SWS expanded the partnership, welcoming current firm Vice Chairman Henry Cisneros, former mayor of San Antonio and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Bill Clinton. In 2019, the firm merged with Williams Capital, co-founded by Christopher Williams, SWS’ Board Chairman.
Dually headquartered in New York, NY and Oakland, CA, SWS is an independent non-bank financial services firm that offers investment banking, sales and trading, research, and advisory services. Its mission is to exceed expectations through value-added results and leave a lasting impact on the sectors, corporations, and communities it serves. SWS counts over 80 Fortune 100 companies among its clients.
CONTACT: Media Contact: Thomas Butler – [email protected] – 646-213-1802 Nick Eilerson – [email protected] – 646-205-7627
