HSBC's securitization team has begun an initiative to expand its structured finance activities in Europe, focusing on the structured investment vehicle (SIV) market.
According to Bahman Jahanshahi, the head of the structured finance group at HSBC in London, the investment bank is intending to "do what it needs to do to set up SIVs." The process has already begun. Former Moody's Investors Service SIV analyst Dominic Swan will be starting shortly at HSBC to head a new team specifically designed to jumpstart the bank's SIV operations.
"We are going to put together a team and build it up to the extent required," Jahanshahi said. "We are going to concentrate more broadly and strengthen our structured finance unit."
During his tenure at Moody's, Swan also analyzed structured mortgage bonds, medium-term notes and other repackaged securities.
Perhaps coincidentally, HSBC had poached another Moody's analyst, Tobias Grun, the week prior. Grun will be joining the fixed-income credit research team for financial institutions, Jahanshahi said.
Grun's focus while at Moody's was European banks. According to a Moody's spokeswoman, for the time being Detlev Schultz will be taking over Swan's SIV-related responsibilities at the rating agency.
