Raymond James adds Jonathan Santelli as General Counsel

Jonathan Santelli will join Raymond James in May this year, moving from First Republic Bank. Santelli will replace the firm's retiring legal veteran Paul Matecki as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary.

Jonathan Santelli is currently the Senior Vice President & Deputy General Counsel at the First Republic Bank. In the role, which he has been in for two years, Santelli is responsible for legal and compliance. Prior to that, Santelli worked as a Managing Director at the Bank of America, where he was, among others, responsible for legal cover to products, including bank deposit and credit products, offered to the affluent. Previously, Santelli, worked at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch for a short stint, in 2009, during the failed integration of Merrill Lynch with the Bank of America, and was a Managing Director and General Counsel for Global Principal Investments at the firm. In 2000, Santelli started at Merrill Lynch, where he was the lead M&A lawyer for many of the firm’s acquisitions, including the firm’s merger with Bank of America. Santelli started his career at law firm Clifford Chance in the US as an Associate in 1996. 

Santelli holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Accounting from College of the Holy Cross and a Juris Doctor from Saint John's University School of Law. 

As per May this year, Santelli will start at Raymond James, with over 6,700 financial advisors of the largest financial services companies in North America. In his new role, he will guide the firm through changes within the legal territory of its, and its clients’, business, as well as support the firm’s executive board.

Santelli replaces incumbent General Counsel and Corporate Secretary Paul Matecki, who recently announced his intention to retire as per September of this year. Matecki, who joined the firm in 1989, has provided significant guidance to the firm’s Legal department throughout the firm’s rapid growth, collaborating closely with the firm’s executive in areas such as acquisitions, firm equity offerings and corporate governance. “In an industry that operates under constant legal and regulatory scrutiny with evolving and sometimes uncertain rules, Paul has helped Raymond James navigate these waters with a steady hand and our stakeholders’ best interests at heart throughout his career,” says Raymond James CEO Paul Reilly. “The firm leaned heavily on his expertise, and he will be greatly missed.”

In the coming months Santelli will work with Matecki to transfer duties. He will report to both Reilly and COO Dennis Zank. “As our search progressed, it became clear that Jonathan is the right choice for this important role,” Zank says. “We look forward to his leadership as we tackle the industry’s complicated and evolving regulatory challenges.”