Company developments and sector hires

Auto deal debut

Oodle Financial Services is marketing an inaugural static cash securitisation of auto receivables extended to obligors located in the UK. Dubbed Downson 2019-1, the £353.4m transaction is provisionally rated Aaa on the £229.8m class A notes, A2 on the £75.9m class Bs, Baa3 on the £15.9m class C notes, Ba3 on the £14.1m class Ds while there are £17.7m of unrated class E notes. The portfolio comprises 41,298 loans tied to hire purchase contracts.

Insurance vehicle proposals

The PRA has set out some proposed updates to its approach and expectations in relation to the authorisation and supervision of insurance special purpose vehicles (ISPVs).  The CP is relevant to parties who wish to apply for, or have obtained authorisation as, an ISPV. It is also relevant to insurers or reinsurers seeking to enter into arrangements with UK ISPVs as a form of risk mitigation. 

The proposals in this CP aim to provide further clarity and elaborate on certain additional aspects of the PRA’s approach and expectations in relation to the authorisation and supervision of ISPVs. The Solvency II requirements in relation to ISPVs have not changed during this period but the PRA and applicants have gained experience of operating the regime in practice. The PRA considers that it would be helpful to update SS8/17 to reflect the experience gained over this period.

This consultation closes on 3 December 2019. The PRA invites feedback on the proposals set out in this consultation, and on whether there are any other areas where further clarification on the PRA’s approach to the authorisation or supervision of ISPVs would be useful.

Non-bank expansion

La Trobe Financial has expanded its executive team with several senior banking hires. One of these includes David Bleakley who joins as vp, treasury and settlement services. He was most recently chief risk officer, North America for ANZ in New York and has previously worked as head of ABS and structured credit operations with the National Australia Bank in Melbourne.

The firm has also hired Rick Drury as senior executive chief lending officer, commercial. He has experience within credit risk and portfolio management and led teams through the financial crisis, focussing on consensual debt workouts, turnaround and restructuring. He was most recently md at the Australia National Bank’s UK commercial real estate run-off business.

Platform launched

Vincent Gessler has launched a new securitisation platform, titled Gessler Capital. The firm aims to provide a securitisation platform to provide off-balance sheet products to clients, as a business introducer and market-analysis provider for international clients.

Tesco mortgages sold

Tesco Personal Finance has sold its mortgage portfolio – comprising over 23,000 customers - to Lloyds Banking Group for a cash consideration of circa £3.8bn. The portfolio has a lending balance of circa £3.7bn and generated pre-tax profits of £9.1m in the 2018/2019 financial year. As part of the sale, the entire residential mortgage portfolio and arrangements for the ongoing administration will transfer to Halifax. It is anticipated that beneficial ownership will transfer at end-September with legal title occurring by end-March 2020.