Siebert Cisneros Shank & Co. held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday to officially open its expanded offices at 100 Wall Street in New York.
The largest minority- and woman-owned investment bank in the United States has been steadily expanding in the past few years, adding bankers and other staff, which resulted in a need to double its office space.
In the last year, the SCS added a quantitative group, integrated its capital markets division and hired eight new people for its transportation group. The firm hit $195 billion in bond transactions in the past year, divided into $71 billion of negotiated municipal deals and $124 billion of corporate offerings.
The 7,000 square foot expansion now lets the company take over almost the entire 18th Floor of 100 Wall Street. For the $1.1 million of new construction work, SCS used almost 100% minority-owned contractors for the job.
Suzanne Shank, CEO and majority owner of SCS, praised the firm's employees for their commitment and hard work.
"Thank you so much for your dedication to this firm. We are growing and it takes a lot of hard work," Shank said. "And I just want to thank you for everything that you do."
The new offices were designed by New York's Switzer Group, America's largest African-American interior architectural design firm. Construction was completed by the African-American owned firm Constructomics.
New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli led the firm's officials and employees in Friday's ribbon-cutting ceremony.
"Siebert Cisneros Shank is an outstanding firm," the comptroller said, adding that the company is "a model of how to do it right in every way and you certainly continue to open doors to opportunity not only in the finance work but also in the renovation work. You're setting a standard that others should follow."
Last year, the firm celebrated its 20th anniversary and announced a corporate restructuring and name change.
Shank is CEO and majority owner while Henry Cisneros, former U.S. Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development and former Mayor of San Antonio, is the second largest equity partner.
Other partners include former New York City Comptroller William Thompson, who is the firm's Chief Administrative Officer and a Managing Director; Sean Duffy, Managing Director of Institutional Sales; equity partner Victor Miramontes, previously CEO of the North American Development Bank; and Gary Hall, national head of investment banking and based in California.
"Wall Street is the epicenter of the financial industry," Thompson said. "This major expansion shows that Siebert Cisneros Shank is committed to growth, continues to attract top talent and has aggressive growth plans for the future."
Since its founding in 1996, SCS has conducted more than $1.4 trillion of municipal bond transactions and $1.1 trillion of corporate bond and equity deals. The company's business includes municipal bond underwriting along with corporate debt and equity underwriting, investment banking and execution services. Since 1998 it has been ranked as the number one MWBE municipal finance firm.
"We have already made our mark as one of the most successful and formidable corporate and municipal finance firms in the country," Cisneros said. "This impressive addition to our Wall Street headquarters is Exhibit No. 1."
