People
Seth Vance, once running the asset-backed group at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, has returned to structured finance following a multi-year stint at Koch Industries. Vance will eventually work in Salomon Smith Barney's structured finance group in London, though for the next month, he'll be at Salomon's New York office.
George J. Petrow was recently appointed as a Managing Partner for the New York office of Sidley & Austin. Petrow, a securitization and structured finance lawyer will focus on continuing the expansion of the New York office.
Ambac Assurance Corp. recently announced that it has hired Douglas Renfield-Miller as a Managing Director of its Financial Insurance Business Group. Renfield-Miller will responsible for the company's efforts in Asia, Latin America, and Ambac's global asset-backed conduit business. Previously, Renfield was a Managing Director with Warburg Dillon Read's Principal Finance and Credit Arbitrage Group.
David Agazzi recently resigned as chief financial officer of the Chicago Housing Authority, the company that is planning to be the first issuer of bonds backed by federal housing grants. Agazzi was apart of the financial team that developed the idea to use asset-backed debt and $600 million of bonds to replace and renovate existing public housing units. Agazzi plans to return to the Chicago Public Schools, where he previously worked as the budget director.
IKON Office Solutions have announced the election of James J. Forese, president and chief executive officer, as Chairman of the Board. Forese will be succeeding Richard A. Jalkut, who has served as Non-Executive Chairman of the Board since 1998.
TD Securities (USA) Inc. has enhanced its Global Structured Products Group with the hires of Sebastiano Riva as vice president as Kassem Shafi as an associate. The group will focus on the securitization of high yield loans and bonds as an area of strength for the firm.
