Bear Stearns International announced last week the appointment of three executives to senior posts within its London-based international mortgage group. Fred Khedouri was appointed head of European residential mortgage and consumer loan origination while Doug Lucas was named head of European ABS trading. Virginia "Ginny" Darrow was also appointed chief executive officer of Bear Stearns subsidiary Rooftop Mortgages. All the new appointees were previously based in New York.
"Our mortgage business is expanding rapidly in Europe and it is a key priority for us," said Michel Peretie, chairman of Bear Stearns International. The new hires signal the firm's commitment to further developing its mortgage business in Europe, according to Tom Marano, senior managing director and global head of mortgages for Bear Stearns. "Our U.S. mortgage business is unmatched on Wall Street and these senior appointments underline our commitment to further expand our European footprint," he said.
In his new position as head of the European residential mortgage and consumer loan origination businesses, Khedouri will be directing the firm's residential mortgage lending and asset securitization units. He will also lead the expansion of the mortgage business into new European markets that are outside the areas covered by existing platforms. Khedouri's has been with Bear Stearns for 20 years.
Lucas will be head of the European ABS trading desk. He has been with the company for over eight years. He will be responsible for overseeing the use of capital and balance sheet risk in support of the firm's proprietary lending platforms.
Meanwhile, Darrow has been appointed to the newly created position of chief executive officer of Bear's Rooftop Mortgages, a U.K. mortgage servicer and subprime lender. Her prior responsibilities included serving as part of the management oversight team for EMC Mortgage Corp., a wholly owned Bear Stearns subsidiary. In 2005, EMC operated a $60 billion servicing platform and a $90 billion mortgage origination business.
Rooftop's management team has been further strengthened by the appointments of Jonathan Naylor as managing directors and Mark Davies as finance director to the board of Rooftop Mortgages. Naylor will focus on building up the loss mitigation and default management group, which is an important component of Rooftop's expansion plans.
"Bear Stearns is poised to capitalize on the growing European mortgage market," said Yves Leysen, head of debt corporate finance for Europe.
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