Sector developments and company hires

‘Unprecedented’ Moroccan CRT closed
Moroccan fertiliser giant OCP Group has subscribed to the notes issued by the first synthetic securitisation in Morocco. The transaction involved the establishment of a collective securitisation vehicle dubbed Fonds Damane Tamayouz, which has been structured to facilitate access to credit for the suppliers that make up OCP's industrial ecosystem.

Clifford Chance, which advised on the deal, describes it as an “unprecedented operation” in Africa. “Morocco has an established and increasingly innovative legal and regulatory financial framework and is now the first African country to facilitate the setting up of guarantee funds that allow banks to transfer credit risk from their balance sheets and thus reduce their regulatory and capital requirements,” the firm notes.

OCP was also advised by CDG Capital and Maghreb Titrisation on the arrangement and financial structuring of the fund.

In other news…

EMEA
British Business Bank has recruited Jeremy Hermant as a senior manager. Hermant was previously a vp in Santander’s private debt mobilisation team, involved in the structuring and issuance of capital relief trades. Before that, he worked at Mariana UFP, AXA Investment Managers, HSBC and IRSAM.

North America
KBRA has appointed Stacie Olivares as its newest independent board director. Olivares is currently serving her first appointment on the CalPERS board of administration. Previously, she was the senior advisor on impact investments and blockchain at the California Department of Insurance, having also served at the California Organized Investment Network, Morgan Stanley and the California Commission for Economic Development.