Sector developments and company hires

Multi-dealer CLO platform unveiled
Citi and Bank of America have announced they are working together on building a new data and execution platform, initially focused on CLOs and syndicated loans. The proposed multi-dealer platform, which is currently in a testing phase, is expected to launch later this year.

BofA and Citi say they initiated the project to address challenges seen throughout the fixed income markets for both dealers and the buy-side – including efficiency, liquidity and cost of execution – and lead the sector’s switch to electronification. The venture ultimately plans to develop into an independent industry-wide trading, data and analytics platform for all structured credit and underlying collateral markets.

In other news…

Auto loan refi partnership agreed
SoFi has launched auto loan refinancing services in partnership with auto fintech start-up MotoRefi through its network of trusted lenders. The move allows borrowers to choose from a selection of pre-qualified competitive offers that fit their financial situation and goals, quickly. It also enables borrowers to view determine eligibility without any impact to their credit score.

CRE servicing tie-up
Mission Peak Capital (MPC) has made a significant financial investment in the US operations of Mount Street Group. Mount Street is seeking to grow its US presence while providing more customised, bespoke servicing by leveraging MPC's understanding of commercial real estate cycles. Together, the companies are aiming to lead the industry in high-touch servicing, combined with a holistic perspective of a commercial real estate investment's lifecycle. 

The partnership will expand beyond its Atlanta and New York offices and add up to 20 new, seasoned servicing and asset management professionals in Atlanta and its new office in Kansas City. 

Digital bank acquired
Avant has acquired Zero Financial and Level, the company's neobank and banking app assets. The move will enable Avant to expand its reach by offering best-in-class digital banking experiences to US consumers.

Level's branchless, all-digital platform focuses on the customer experience. It was built in-house by a team of engineers, product designers and others who will join Avant and continue development, fully integrating deposits into Avant's suite of digital banking and credit products.

EMEA
Privatam is adding to its investment solutions team with the hire of Jason Rodrigues as sales director for the Southern African market, based in the firm’s Zurich office.

Rodrigues was previously associate principal for Standard Chartered Bank in South Africa. He has over 10 years of experience working for a number of financial institutions, such as Investec and Absa Capital, in South Africa in structuring and sales roles.

Esoteric finance team formed
DBRS Morningstar has launched a new dedicated esoteric finance team. With a global and cross-sector mandate, the team will focus on esoteric and innovative finance transactions in evolving asset classes, industries and risk areas that haven’t been the focus of credit ratings before.

The approach will consist of a cross-franchise team with known specialists from the agency’s corporate credit, non-bank financial, legal and credit policy units, as well as experienced analysts from various structured finance asset classes. The initiative is overseen by Chuck Weilamann, chief credit officer, and is consistent with the agency’s mission to bring more analytical transparency, diversity of opinion and investor-oriented responsiveness to the marketplace.

HVF II ratings affirmed
Fitch has affirmed and removed its rating watch negative placement on the outstanding ratings of the rental car (RC) ABS issued by Hertz Vehicle Financing II (HVF II), reflecting Hertz’s ongoing management of its business and fleet through Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The class A note ratings have been assigned a stable rating outlook, while the class B and C note ratings have been assigned a negative rating outlook. The class D notes are currently rated triple-C and do not have an outlook.

Fitch notes that the performance metrics of the HVF II ABS fleet remain in line with its expectations. The rating actions nevertheless encompass the current challenging coronavirus environment and unprecedented impact on the travel sector, including rental car demand, which remains a risk for the ABS notes.

The ratings cover US$2.47bn of outstanding ABS notes issued from 11 HVF II series, which have amortised down in the past 10 months from the US$6.04bn original balance, since the company declared bankruptcy in May 2020. The class A notes have thus far received all principal paydown and now stand at less than 25% of their original balance, thus benefitting from notably higher credit enhancement (CE) as a percent of total assets versus in 2020 and initially at close. All series class A notes have 60%-65% CE today, in some cases nearly double or more enhancement versus closing levels.

The class B, C and D notes remain at 100% of their original balance and have lower relative enhancement levels that have not increased materially, when compared to Fitch's base-case scenario.

Although it is yet to be approved by the court and shareholders, Hertz’s emergence from bankruptcy is expected to occur earlier than the previously planned 30 September 2021 date implied by its debtor settlement agreement (SCI passim).

Infrastructure data offering enhanced
Fitch Solutions has released enhanced infrastructure key projects data (KPD), together with a project risk metric that enables users to quantify and gauge infrastructure project completion risk. The KPD is part of the Fitch Solutions country risk and industry research service and provides project information for 36,000 energy, utilities, transport and social infrastructure projects with a combined value of US$17trn.

The KPD covers infrastructure projects across 200 markets and gives users access to crucial information, including construction status, timeframe, cost and key stakeholders for each project. The project risk metric draws on the country risk and industry research team's data, forecasts and analytics to quantify the likelihood of a project moving through the lifecycle phases to reach completion in a timely manner.

Other enhancements to the KPD include more granular data for project sub-sectors, new dashboards and project pages, advanced search functionality, regional project pipeline reports and excel add-in capabilities.

North America
Horseshoe has appointed Kathleen Faries as its new ceo, effective on 15 April. Based in Bermuda, she will work closely with Andre Perez, the founder and current ceo of Horseshoe. Following a short transition period, Perez will assume the new role of executive chairman, acting as an advisor to the business, with a focus on strategic business opportunities and mergers and acquisitions.

Faries was previously the head of Tokio Millennium Re, Bermuda. She has more than 30 years of experience in the re/insurance and ILS industry, across property and casualty broking, captives, underwriting and insurance management.

Synthetic notification templates released
ESMA has published interim STS notification templates for synthetic securitisations following amendments to the Securitisation Regulation (SECR). The interim templates allow originators to notify ESMA of synthetic securitisations that meet the STS criteria. As with traditional securitisations, only those synthetic securitisations that meet pre-defined STS requirements will be published on ESMA’s website.

Until the date of the application of the Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) specifying the content and the format of STS notifications for synthetic securitisations, originators can make the necessary information available to ESMA in writing during the interim period. The interim STS notification templates may be used by originators on a voluntary basis, which may be subject to possible changes following the entry into force of the RTS.