Sector developments and company hires

Social housing RMBS debuts
Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC) has completed a rare securitisation collateralised by social housing loans originated by its savings fund division. Dubbed FCT FE Durable 2023, the €1bn transaction is backed a portfolio of 1,890 performing loans extended to 206 French social and affordable housing providers (SAHPs).

The largest, the top five and top 10 largest borrower groups account for 1.7%, 8.6% and 17% of the outstanding portfolio balance respectively, according to DBRS Morningstar. The initial portfolio exhibits a high geographic concentration in the French regions of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (accounting for 19.9% of the outstanding portfolio balance), Occitanie (9.7%) and Normandy (9.7%).

The portfolio benefits from guarantees extended by local authorities, covering 100% of the outstanding principal balance.

CDC acts as the servicer for the transaction and will remain the servicer until the liquidation of the issuer. Only CDC is authorised to originate, manage and collect regulated social housing loans in France.

The deal is static and the structure includes separate waterfalls for the payment of interest and principal on the notes, with the class A notes ranking in priority to the class B notes on both interest and principal payments.

In other news…

EMEA
Liberty Specialty Markets has promoted underwriter Tom Russell to lead underwriter – portfolio solutions, financial risk solutions, based in London. He joined the firm as senior underwriting assistant within the structured risk solutions team in November 2016 from Munich Re.

North America
Stifel Financial is expanding its agency MBS footprint with the launch of a new agency structured products group. The New York-based team will work to boost the firm’s fixed income origination products and services by purchasing and securitising Ginnie Mae project loans, as well as underwriting GSE and US small business administration loans.

The effort will be led by veteran securitisation professionals Karen Cady and Russell McKay as co-heads of the group, supported by respective group md and director, Kavitha Vignarajah and Serif Ustun. The team joins from Credit Suisse, where Cady served as director in the securitised products trading group and McKay worked as the head of agency CMBS trading and syndicate desk. Vignarajah was a member of the securitised product team, while Ustun was an analyst within the firm’s securitised products group.