Waterfield Group

Waterfield Group is a United States financial-services holding company founded in 1928 by Richard H. Waterfield. The group developed around mortgage finance and related financial activities and became one of the more prominent privately held mortgage businesses in the country. By 2000, it was described as the largest privately held mortgage company in the United States. Its mortgage business operated under the Waterfield Mortgage name, while the wider group also held an interest in Waterfield Bank. The company remained closely associated with the Waterfield family across generations. J. Randall Waterfield, a former Goldman Sachs manager and grandson of the founder, served as chairman of the Waterfield Group. This family-linked governance structure was part of the group's identity as a privately held financial enterprise rather than a publicly traded banking conglomerate. A major strategic change occurred in December 2006, when Waterfield Group sold Waterfield Mortgage to Sky Financial Group. The transaction separated the group's principal mortgage-company operation from its former ownership structure and marked a significant reduction in the group's mortgage-finance footprint. Sky Financial Group was subsequently acquired by Huntington Bancshares in 2007, although that later transaction was not a transaction involving Waterfield Group itself. The group's banking activities later faced regulatory difficulty. In 2010, the Office of Thrift Supervision closed Waterfield Bank, a bank majority-owned by Waterfield Group. The closure was part of the broader wave of U.S. bank failures and regulatory interventions associated with the financial crisis and its aftermath. Public reference material identifies Waterfield Bank as having been closed by federal regulators, but does not establish a complete account of the group's subsequent corporate structure, activities, ownership, or operating status. Because the available reference material is limited and largely historical, Waterfield Group's present-day status, headquarters, current business lines, website, and ownership cannot be confirmed here. The company is best documented as a historically important privately held U.S. mortgage and banking group whose mortgage subsidiary was sold in 2006 and whose majority-owned bank was closed by regulators in 2010.

Waterfield Group traces its origins to 1928, when Richard H. Waterfield founded the business in the United States. The group eventually became associated with mortgage finance and other financial-services activities. Its best-known operating business was Waterfield Mortgage, which helped establish the group as a significant privately held participant in the U.S. mortgage market. The company's private ownership and family continuity were important features of its history. Richard H. Waterfield founded the enterprise, and his grandson J. Randall Waterfield later became chairman. Before taking that leadership role, J. Randall Waterfield had worked as a manager at Goldman Sachs. The family's continued involvement linked the group's identity to a multigenerational financial-services business rather than to a widely held public company. By 2000, available reference material characterized Waterfield Group as the largest privately held mortgage company in the United States. This description reflects the scale and prominence of its mortgage operation at that point, although the available material does not provide revenue, loan-volume, employee, or market-share figures. The group also expanded or maintained interests beyond mortgage origination and servicing, including Waterfield Bank, a thrift institution majority-owned by the group. The most important documented corporate transaction in the group's later history was the sale of Waterfield Mortgage to Sky Financial Group in December 2006. The sale transferred the mortgage company to another financial institution and changed the composition of Waterfield Group's business portfolio. Sky Financial Group itself later became part of Huntington Bancshares, but that subsequent merger is not evidence that Waterfield Group remained part of the combined company. Waterfield Group's banking interests encountered serious regulatory problems during the aftermath of the U.S. financial crisis. In 2010, the Office of Thrift Supervision closed Waterfield Bank. Contemporary reporting and regulatory references described the bank as majority-owned by Waterfield Group. The closure ended the bank's operations under its existing charter and represented a major setback for the group's financial-services presence. The accessible reference material does not document a definitive dissolution of Waterfield Group, a successor organization, its post-2010 activities, or its current management. Accordingly, the group's present status is recorded as unknown rather than active or defunct. Its documented historical profile is that of a privately held U.S. financial holding company founded in 1928, once prominent in mortgage finance, later reduced by the sale of its mortgage subsidiary, and affected by the regulatory closure of its majority-owned bank.

• 2010

  Waterfield Bank is closed by regulators

  [1]Waterfield Groupen.wikipedia.org

  The Office of Thrift Supervision closed Waterfield Bank, which was majority-owned by Waterfield Group.

• 2006

  Waterfield Mortgage is sold

  [1]Waterfield Groupen.wikipedia.org

  Waterfield Group sold its mortgage company, Waterfield Mortgage, to Sky Financial Group in December.

• 2000

  Mortgage business reaches major private-company scale

  [1]Waterfield Groupen.wikipedia.org

  The group was described as the largest privately held mortgage company in the United States.

• 1928

  Waterfield Group is founded

  [1]Waterfield Groupen.wikipedia.org

  Richard H. Waterfield founded the financial-services group in the United States.

Historically positioned as a privately held U.S. financial-services group centered on mortgage finance, with additional exposure to banking.

• Mortgage finance

  Waterfield Mortgage

  Waterfield Mortgage was the group's principal documented mortgage-finance business. It formed the basis of Waterfield Group's national profile as a major privately held mortgage company. The business was sold to Sky Financial Group in December 2006, so it should be treated as a former group offering rather than a current Waterfield Group product.

• Banking

  Waterfield Bank

  Waterfield Bank was a thrift or banking institution majority-owned by Waterfield Group. Its activities represented the group's exposure to deposit-taking and banking alongside mortgage finance. The Office of Thrift Supervision closed the bank in 2010, and no current operating status is established in the available reference material.

• 2010

  Regulatory closure of Waterfield BankOther

  Background

  Waterfield Bank, majority-owned by Waterfield Group, came under federal regulatory action during the period following the U.S. financial crisis.

  Action taken

  The Office of Thrift Supervision closed Waterfield Bank.

  Aftermath

  The closure ended the bank's operations and reduced the group's documented banking presence. The available sources do not establish the wider corporate consequences for Waterfield Group.

  Source

• 2006

  Sale of Waterfield Mortgage to Sky Financial GroupM&A

  Background

  Waterfield Group disposed of its principal documented mortgage-company operation after years of prominence in privately held U.S. mortgage finance.

  Action taken

  The group sold Waterfield Mortgage to Sky Financial Group in December 2006.

  Aftermath

  The transaction removed Waterfield Mortgage from Waterfield Group's portfolio and materially changed the group's operating profile.

  Source

1. 1Waterfield Groupen.wikipedia.org