Sector developments and company hires

Credit line secured

Foundation Home Loans has entered into a new £350m warehouse credit line with National Australia Bank to support the origination of new mortgages. The lender has also extended an existing warehouse, funded by Natixis and SMBC, by £100m.

ILS

Descartes Underwriting has hired Edern Le Roux as head of ILS and cat modelling. He was previously head of ILS risk at SCOR Investment Partners.

R-PACE scrutiny

The CFPB has issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking on residential PACE financing, seeking information to support regulations for the sector that “carry out the purposes of” the Truth In Lending Act’s ability-to-repay requirements for mortgages and apply TILA’s civil liability provisions. In crafting the regulations, the CFPB is required to take into account “the unique nature of PACE financing”, according to a recent Morrison & Foerster client briefing. The ANPR requests information about residential PACE financing including: current PACE financing origination standards and practices; application of TILA’s civil liability provisions, the right of rescission and borrower delinquency and default to PACE financing; features unique to PACE financing and how the regulations should reflect those features; and the potential implications of “regulating PACE financing under TILA.” Comments are due by 7 May 2019.

US

Nick Robinson has joined Allen & Overy’s securitisation and structured finance practice as a partner, based in New York. Robinson comes from Milbank, where he practiced for almost 15 years, most recently serving as special counsel in the alternative investments practice. He has extensive experience representing underwriters, asset managers and investors in CLOs, with a focus on broadly syndicated and middle market CLOs. He also specializes in representing lenders and borrowers in structured loan facilities, CLO warehouse facilities and a variety of other ABS transactions.

GSO Capital Partners has expanded its North American origination effort to include two new office locations in San Francisco and Toronto, which are expected to open in 1H19. Ferdinand Niederhofer will lead coverage out of GSO’s San Francisco office, while Michael Carruthers will focus on Canada and the Midwest. Bill Hobbs will lead the firm’s efforts in the Southeast and will continue to be based out of the New York office.

Richard Budden