Nasdaq-listed Northern Trust has named Laura Mandel as president of the Northern Trust Company of Delaware, succeeding Daniel Lindley, who in May was appointed managing director of the firm’s global family and private investment offices group for the EMEA and APAC regions. 

Mandel, who starts her new role immediately, will relocate from Chicago to Wilmington. She has 25 years of experience in trust and investment management for high net worth individuals and families and now leads the regional bank's overall strategy, as well as helping clients make use of the wealth transfer advantages afforded by Delaware trust law.

Previously, Mandel served as a senior fiduciary relationship manager at Northern Trust and has been with the bank for over 12 years. The firm said she has handled some of its largest and most complex trust portfolios, including irrevocable gift trusts, generation-skipping trusts, charitable trusts, revocable trusts and investment management accounts.

Prior to joining Northern Trust, Mandel served as trust counsel and senior trust administrator at Harris Trust and Savings Bank - now BMO Harris Bank. There, she advised trust and investment professionals on fiduciary and estate planning issues.

Developments in the US tax code have prompted many firms to either strengthen their existing trust business or indeed launch new ones. In fact Lindley himself said 2012 would be "even more tax-driven" than 2011.  

At the end of June, Harris myCFO, the US-based family office advisory unit of BMO Financial Group, reinforced its trust capabilities, launching BMO Delaware Trust Company. By establishing a presence in Delaware, the firm said its UHNW clients would have significantly more flexibility in planning strategies.

Meanwhile earlier this year Key Private Bank established a Delaware national trust company to work with its wealthy clients and prospects on asset protection and tax savings. Similarly, New York-listed First Republic Bank launched a new trust company in Delaware in March, naming John McCabe as managing director and senior trust officer. 

Northern Trust has $179.1 billion in assets under management (as at March 31) with over 70 offices across the US and abroad.