The roots of Zions Public Finance run back into the 1800s. Edward L. Burton and his family were among the first investment bankers in the intermountain region. They operated as Edward L. Burton & Company from 1899 to 1954. In 1924, J. Alma (Al) Burrows joined the firm. Nicholas G. Smith joined the firm in 1954, and the firm subsequently changed its name to Burrows,Smith & Company. In 1981, Burrows, Smith & Company was sold to Prudential-Bache Securities.
When Prudential-Bache determined to leave the world of public finance in 1988, the Pru-Bache Utah team decided to create their own firm called Smith Capital Markets Inc. and continued serving the intermountain market. In 1989, Smith Capital Markets was acquired by Zions First National Bank which merged these professionals with its own staff of public finance bankers who had been engaged in public finance since 1974.
Zions Bank has been in Salt Lake City since 1873. In 1974, Zions asked Jim Fenton to open its own public finance operation in the intermountain west. Mr. Fenton had also worked for Edward L. Burton & Company as an investment banker and he quickly assembled a small team of public finance professionals who served the municipal market from 1974 until the merger with Smith Capital Markets in 1989.
Zions operated its public finance business under the name Smith Captial Markets until 1993 when the bank acquired Discount Corporation of New York. We operated under the name of Discount Corporation until 1994 when we changed our name to Zions Public Finance. The rest is history.
Zions Bank is registered as a Municipal Securities Dealer and a Municipal Advisor.
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