Ex-SVB Lawyer Landed Job at Wealth Manager Before Bank Implosion

A lawyer who left SVB Financial Group just prior to the collapse of its commercial bank has landed at Alvarium Tiedemann Holdings Inc., a newly-formed money manager for the super wealthy.

Colleen Graham started March 6 as global general counsel at Alvarium Tiedemann, according to two people familiar with the matter. Her LinkedIn profile also states that she now works for the wealth manager.

At Alvarium Tiedemann, Graham has reunited with former Credit Suisse First Boston executive Michael Tiedemann, who merged his Tiedemann Advisors LLC with Alvarium Investments Ltd. and Cartesian Growth Corp., a special purpose acquisition company. Graham spent more than two decades working for Credit Suisse, its predecessors and affiliates, according to public records.

Graham’s two former employers, SVB and Credit Suisse, are at the center of worldwide turmoil in the financial sector.

UBS Group AG announced Sunday it was acquiring Credit Suisse for 3 billion francs ($3.2 billion) in a government-brokered deal to stem contagion through the global financial system. SVB filed for bankruptcy March 17 after depositors in its subsidiary, Silicon Valley Bank, raced to withdraw their money following efforts by the former parent company to shore up its finances.

Graham didn’t respond to a request for comment.

She was most recently the general counsel for SVB’s private banking and wealth management unit before leaving last month, according to Graham’s LinkedIn profile. She was hired in 2019 as general counsel for Boston Private Financial Holdings Inc., which SVB paid $900 million to acquire in 2021.

SVB posted a job opening for Graham’s former general counsel position prior to the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, which was put into a US government receivership a week ago. The listing has been updated to note that SVB is no longer accepting applications for the position.

SVB’s former top in-house lawyer, general counsel Michael Zuckert, is also no longer working for the company but will continue to provide services to Silicon Valley Bank, according to a March 17 securities filing.

Credit Suisse

Graham previously held a variety of positions for Credit Suisse.

Her role leading a software joint venture between the Zurich-based financial giant and data analytics company Palantir Technologies Inc. eventually put Graham at odds with Credit Suisse, which she accused of retaliating against her over an accounting dispute.

Homburger, a Swiss law firm that worked with Credit Suisse in that matter, is currently advising the bank on its sale to UBS.

Credit Suisse, represented by Latham & Watkins, sued Graham in 2021 seeking to end an arbitration case she initiated against the bank. Robert Kraus, a lawyer representing Graham in that litigation in a New York federal court, didn’t respond to a request for comment about its status.

A Feb. 8 court filing in that dispute shows that Credit Suisse’s lawsuit against Graham was “voluntarily dismissed” without prejudice against the defendant.

Alvarium Tiedemann began trading in January on the Nasdaq stock exchange following the completion of the long-delayed combination between Alvarium, Tiedemann, and Cartesian. Goodwin Procter advised Alvarium on that deal, while Greenberg Traurig and Seward & Kissel took the lead for Cartesian and Tiedemann, respectively.

Kevin Moran, a former legal chief for Tiedemann’s firm, is now chief operating officer for Alvarium Tiedemann, which has tapped another ex-Tiedemann in-house lawyer, Whitney Fogle Lewis, to be general counsel and chief compliance officer for US wealth management, according to the company’s website.