People moves and key promotions in securitisation

This final weekly roundup of securitisation job swaps of 2023 sees Reed Smith snapping up a Linklaters partner and structured finance specialist. Elsewhere, ARIA Commodities has lured a Deutsche Bank veteran as head of structured trade finance, while CBRE has made two senior promotions in its European team.

Linklaters veteran Mark Drury has joined Reed Smith as a partner in its financial industry group, working out of the law firm’s London office. He leaves his position as partner at Linklaters after almost 20 years with the firm, having originally joined as a trainee solicitor in early 2004.

Drury specialises in structured finance, spanning CLOs, risk retention structures and financings, repackagings, fund financings and fund derivatives, and balance sheet issuances. He also works on financial market infrastructure processes including derivatives clearing and payments, and fintech-related matters including crypto asset products.

Meanwhile, Fred Dons has left his role as director and head of large cap sales on the Deutsche Bank structured trade finance team to take up the position of head of structured trade finance at ARIA Commodities, based in Zug, Switzerland. Dons has been with Deutsche Bank for a combined period of 29 years and six months, split between two stints either side of a two-year period at ABN AMRO from 2004 to 2006.

CBRE has made two key promotions in its European structured finance team, including the elevation of Chris Gow to head of debt and structured finance for Europe. Effective from 1 January 2024, Gow’s present responsibilities as lead for the debt and structured finance team in UK and Ireland will expand to include the rest of Europe. In addition, Robert Jan Peters, presently serving as head of debt and structured finance in the Netherlands, will take on greater duties in continental Europe and collaborate closely with Gow in these new roles.

Freddie Mac has appointed Mike Reynolds vp, head of servicing within its single-family portfolio and servicing division. He was previously vp, credit risk transfer, overseeing the STACR programme. Before joining Freddie Mac in July 2012, Reynolds was vp, strategy development director at Fannie Mae.

Italian law firm Pavia e Ansaldo has promoted Massimiliano Elia to partner, working out of its Turin office. Elia focuses on insurance and finance, with particular expertise in mergers and acquisitions, in addition to structured finance. He also advises on matters relating to broader banking and finance, private equity, litigation and arbitration and capital markets. Elia has been with the firm since 2021.

Scope has promoted David Bergman to group md and head of transactional credit and quantitative analysis. Based in Milan, he was previously md and head of structured finance at the rating agency, which he joined in September 2017. Before that, Bergman worked at Moody’s and GE Commercial Finance.

Sidley Austin has promoted Quan Lu to counsel in its energy and infrastructure practice in Houston, with effect from 1 January. He focuses on structured finance, asset securitisation and corporate finance transactions in the energy space. Lu joined Sidley Austin in 2016 from Hunton & Williams and is promoted from associate.

And finally, Marine and rail transportation equipment and services provider The Greenbrier Companies has promoted Nicholas Arnold to director of structured finance and analysis, based in New York. Arnold joined the company in late 2021 and is promoted from manager. He previously spent three years working on the structured product origination team at Guggenheim Partners and a year as an associate analyst on Moody’s Investor Services structured finance group.

The SCI Job Swaps Weekly team would like to wish all our readers a great festive period, and looks forward to bringing you more exciting job swaps in 2024.