Sector developments and company hires

Debt servicing spin-off inked
Credito Fondiario Banking Group has demerged its debt purchasing and servicing activities in favour of the newly established Gardant Group. As part of this reorganisation, it has redefined the bank's mission as a challenger bank, specialising in financing solutions for SMEs and corporates. The two companies will operate independently going forward.

Panfilo Tarantelli has been appointed chair of Credito Fondiario, Davide Croff as deputy chair and independent director, and Iacopo De Francisco as ceo.

Gardant is dedicated to the management of and investment in Italian impaired and illiquid loans. Armando La Morgia, previously head of capital markets and securitisation at Credito Fondiario, has been named group chief business officer for Gardant.

EMEA
Capital markets fintech Nivaura has appointed Scott Eaton as its new ceo. Eaton brings three decades of experience in leadership roles in capital markets and financial technology. Most recently, he served as ceo of Algomi from 2018 until its sale to BGC in 2020 and prior to that, as coo of MarketAxess Europe.

Nivaura’s founder Avtar Sehra moves to the role of president, focusing on intensifying the firm’s innovation and product development in capital markets automation technology.

Mortgage industry merger
Blockchain platform Figure Technologies is set to merge with Homebridge Financial Services, with the aim of reshaping the technology landscape of the mortgage industry in the US. Under the agreement, Figure will provide a platform on Provenance Blockchain that should double Homebridge’s capacity for fulfilling home loans and the two firms will introduce new payment and lending products to the lender’s customers.