Sector developments and company hires

The EIB Group has provided RLB Steiermark with a guarantee for a €60m mezzanine tranche of a synthetic securitisation. The transaction is backed by the Investment Plan for Europe and is expected to provide capital relief under the CRR.

The capital relief will enhance RLB Steiermark's risk-taking capacity and create additional lending headroom, enabling it to create a new portfolio of eligible loans to SMEs, mid-caps and private individuals. The portfolio is set to be equal to four times the EIB's guarantee amount and will focus on innovation and climate action mainly in Austria.  

The guarantee will be fronted by the EIF and counter-guaranteed by the EIB for the entire amount. The underlying portfolio is a granular portfolio of loans to SMEs and mid-caps originated by RLB Steiermark.

In other news……

EMEA

Citi has appointed Simon Jones as its new head of credit markets trading for EMEA. Jones will undertake the role alongside his present position as head of global spread products financing and securitisation for the region and will additionally take on the responsibilities as senior manager following the appointment of new EMEA head of markets, Amit Raja. In his new role, Jones will lead the firm’s global spread products franchise across the EMEA region and will assist in the development of strategies to help build the firm’s position. Jones has been with Citi since 2004 and steps up to head of credit markets trading for EMEA from his role as head of global spread products financing and securitisation for EMEA which he has held since 2017.

Global

Clifford Chance has announced five new appointments to its leadership team, with the aim of advancing its strategy of growth. Among the new appointees is Emma Matebalavu, who has been named global head of global financial markets. Matebalavu is currently co-head of global financial markets in the firm’s London office and specialises in real estate finance and securitisation.

Additionally, Jessica Littlewood has been appointed global operations and business transformation partner. In this new role, Littlewood will focus on the firm's operations to ensure they are closely aligned to the client and people strategy, as well as programmes to modernise the firm and the way it operates. She leads Clifford Chance's European CLO practice and is an expert in synthetic securitisation. She was previously a member of the firm's partnership council.

North America

Linklaters has announced three new hires to its capital markets team in New York as the firm works to expand its coverage in the US. Joseph Gambino and Peter Williams join the practice as structured finance and derivatives partners, and Elizabeth Walker joins as a senior associate. They each join Linklaters from Alston & Bird, where Gambino and Williams served as partners and Walker worked as a senior associate. Gambino and Williams bring more than 40 years of combined experience to the firm, and extensive expertise in structured finance but particularly CLOs.