Sector developments and company hires

LCX platform expanded
LendingClub has expanded its LCX platform to make it easier for registered institutional investors to analyse, price and bid on loans at pre-issuance, down to the individual loan level. When it was first launched, LCX enabled the company to sell previously originated loans at, above or below par, from its balance sheet. For the first time, LendingClub can now sell loans with dynamic pricing before they are originated, meaning they never hit the company's balance sheet and thereby help it preserve liquidity. The expansion also increases investors' ability to evaluate and execute their purchase strategies in a real-time, data-rich environment. Loans on this framework will be offered on the LendingClub marketplace multiple times per day. 

In other news…

BUMF hearing due
The BUMF 4, 5, 6 and 7 issuers have informed noteholders that Alfred Olutayo Oyekoya, Rizwan Hussain, Rajnish Kalia, Jai Singh, Callon Shared Equity and Portfolio Logistics continue to purport to have assumed the position of directors (SCI 26 June). In addition, Hussain continues to hold himself out as the chairman of the issuers, which consider these actions to be entirely invalid and ineffective. The matter of Hussain and his associates' purported authority has been referred to the Courts for determination and a hearing has been listed for one day between 13 and 15 July.

EMEA
Pascal Meysson has been appointed md and head of HIG WhiteHorse Europe. Meysson has 24 years of investing experience overall, including 16 years in the European direct lending market. Prior to joining HIG, he was an md at Alcentra, where he was a founding member of the European direct lending platform. Before Alcentra, he was with Deutsche Bank and Charterhouse in London.

Hope bill drafted for CRE borrowers
US Representative Van Taylor has circulated a draft bill that would require the Treasury Department to establish and administer a facility to guarantee certain preferred equity investments in commercial real estate borrowers affected by Covid-19. Dubbed the ‘Helping Open Properties Endeavor Act of 2020’ (the Hope Act of 2020), it is intended to fill the gap in existing federal programmes by providing financial assistance to CRE borrowers - including those borrowers with CMBS debt - by guaranteeing the purchase by eligible financial institutions of preferred equity instruments issued by eligible CRE borrowers. The facility would be funded by utilising amounts already appropriated for providing liquidity to eligible businesses under Section 4003(b)(4) of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9042(b)(4)), according to a recent Cadwalader memo.

The act incentivises financial institutions to purchase the preferred equity instruments by: guaranteeing that the Treasury will purchase the preferred equity instruments after a certain period of time; reimbursing the financial institutions for a portion of the preferred equity instruments; and paying the financial institutions an annual servicing fee. However, Cadwalader notes that the act does not provide a path to forgiveness of the equity investment for CRE borrowers like the Paycheck Protection Program provides for its borrowers.

North America
Aeolus Capital Management has named Aditya Dutt partner and president. He will also be a member of the Aeolus board, following a period of gardening leave from Renaissance Re (SCI 10 July), where he was svp and president of Renaissance Underwriting Managers.

Fiera Comox has launched a new private credit strategy, offering investors compelling private credit investment opportunities across the US and Europe. To develop and launch this new strategy, the firm has recruited Mathieu Desforges and Maxime Dorais from the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ). While at CDPQ, together they grew the junior and opportunistic credit strategy into an over C$3bn private credit portfolio from 2013 to 2019.