Former Colorado Gov. Bill Owens has landed another post-politics job.
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group announced Thursday that Owens has joined the bank’s RBS Greenwich Capital unit as vice chairman.
RBS Greenwich Capital, an expert on fixed-income investing, provides banking and other services to major corporations and financial institutions.
“Bill Owens is a proven leader with a strong track record of successfully driving change and building consensus,” said Jay Levine, chief executive of RBS Global Banking & Markets, North America, in a statement.
Owens said he will have an office in Greenwich, Conn., but will be able to conduct business from Denver.
He said he will be traveling around the world working with RBS clients on efforts to harness private-sector money for public projects, such as airports, roads, ports and water utilities.
“This is a company where there are not a lot of hierarchical walls,” Owens said. “If you can help the bank, you do it. I’m expected to help within the RBS family wherever I can.”
Owens wouldn’t rule out helping companies vying to invest in public projects in Colorado.
“I’ll be consistent with what I did as governor,” Owens said. “I was a proponent of using
private-sector efficiencies to deliver public goods.”
The position is the third publicly disclosed job for the former Republican governor.
In December, Owens announced that he had formed a commercial real estate investment venture, JCB Group LLC, with businessmen Joel Farkas and Chris Paulson.
In January, the University of Denver announced that Owens would join the school’s Institute for Public Policy Studies as a senior fellow.
Owens has been on the RBS job for at least a month.
In April, Owens touted “public-private partnerships” at a Washington, D.C., conference.
An April 10 news release distributed by the conference sponsor, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, mentioned Owens’ new job.
The two-term governor hasn’t left the political realm completely. In January, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican, announced that Owens is serving as a senior adviser to Romney’s presidential bid.
Staff writer Mark P. Couch can be reached at 303-954-1794 or mcouch@denverpost.com.
