Sector developments and company hires

Acquisition
ArrowMark Partners has acquired the bank investment platform and assets of StoneCastle Asset Management. As a closing condition of the transaction, stockholders approved a new investment management agreement between the company and StoneCastle-ArrowMark Asset Management - a subsidiary of ArrowMark - and elected eight directors, constituting its board. Sanjai Bhonsle has been elected as the company’s ceo and chairman.   

Social housing decree
The Parliament of Catalonia has validated Decree Law 17/2019, which increases the amount of social housing for people on low incomes or with particular needs. Moody’s suggests that the law is credit negative for Spanish RMBS because social rent will have to be offered to vulnerable borrowers, delaying the realisation of property sales. The credit implications for NPL securitisations are “even worse”, as the extension of social rent rights to illegal occupants will weaken owners' legal security, thereby limiting the realisation of repossessed property values.