People
The tug-of-war for CDO talent continues.
Pat Gonzalez leaves MBIA's CDO group, to start tomorrow (Feb. 6) at XL Capital Assurance. Gonzalez will be reporting to David Czerniecki, focusing on CDOs and related products. Before MBIA, Gonzales was at S&P for seven years.
Maryam Muessel has joined General Re. as a managing director in credit structured products group. Muessel was most recently with Prudential Securities, where she headed up the bank's CDO arm.
Martin Nance has joined AIG Risk Finance, filling spot left vacant by Matthew Coolleen, who moved over to a subsidiary of Chubb Life Insurance last year. Nance moves over from Enhance Structured Products, a subsidiary of Enhance Financial Solutions.
Paul Cunningham, Juan Espinosa, and John Lennon are no longer with J.P. Morgan Chase. All three were formerly part of J.P. Morgan's asset-backed syndicate desk.
Additionally, Oliver Levitte is no longer with J.P. Morgan Chase. Levitte was a director in the ABS group on the Chase Manhattan side.
Former Freddie Mac executive vice president and chief financial officer John Gibbons has joined the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago as senior vice president for strategy development. One of Gibbons' chief duties will be to concentrate on business strategy, including the mortgage partnership finance program. Gibbons also will focus on risk management issues and the long-term development of the bank. Prior to joining Freddie Mac, Gibbons worked for Merrill Lynch.
News
Last week, Standard & Poor's published a review on the German states tax treatment of special purpose entities, and analysts say it is still unclear which market participants need to be aware. S&P noted that some German states are seeking to establish the principle that foreign corporate vehicles used in securitisation transactions which involve German assets serviced by German-based servicers should be treated as "onshore" and are therefore liable for German tax.
S&P also said all synthetic transactions where the originator is the issuer of the rated securities should not be affected by any proposed changes.
Standard & Poor's has announced the CreditWatch implications on the CCC+ long-term local and foreign currency rating on Asia Pulp & Paper Co. Ltd. (APP) and it's operating subsidiaries have been revised to negative from developing. The action is a result of the dwindiling prospects for affordable refinancing of APP's upcoming maturities as a result of the decline in APP's debt prices and equity market valuation since the company filed a consent and exchange offer with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last September.
Despite what market sources had indicated, West LB has confirmed that the bank currently does not have a mandate on a non-conforming credit card deal for Cross Country Bank, according to an official at the bank.
Miscellaneous
The Pullman Group last week announced that it made a victory in its suit against Prudential Insurance Co., CAK Universal Credit Corp, etc, for breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets, and other charges. The motion for re-argument and to re-new was accepted for hearing in the New York Supreme Court and a new judge will to take over. The Pullman Group filed its original lawsuit on Nov. 16, 1999
Separately, The Pullman Group announced it and the Isley Brothers won the final victory at the U.S. Supreme Court in a case that involved a copyright infringement against Michael Bolton.
More information on the above is posted at www.pullmanco.com.
Calendar
Jan. 17, 19 23: New York, NY; Chicago, IL and Los Angeles, CA-Mayer Brown & Platt and Deloitte & Touche sponsor FASB 140, and its impact on securitization. For more information visit www.securitization.net/fasb140/index.asp or contact Sujin Yi at (213) 688-5114 or syi@deloitte.com.
Feb. 7-10: Phoenix, AZ-Information Management Network presents the sixth annual ABS West, the 1998 and 1999 ISR award recipient for "Best Asian, European & Latin American ABS conferences." For more information contact (212) 768-2800 ext. 1 or visit www.imn.org.
Feb. 11-14: Scottsdale, AZ-The Strategic Research Institute will hold the eighth annual Asset Securitization 2001 Symposium. For more information contact 800-599-4950 or email info@srinstitute.com.
March 5-6: New York, NY-The Strategic Research Institute presents the first ever ABS On The Web conference. For more information call 800-599-4950 or visit www.srinstitute.com/ca257.
March 13-14: New York, NY-Information Management Network is presenting 2001: A CDO Event at the Marriott Marquis. For more information, call (212) 768-2800 ext. 1 or visit www.imn.org/a286/f/.
March 26-27: New York, NY-The Strategic Research Institute will hold the fourth annual Asset Backed Commercial Paper Forum at the Grand Hyatt. For more information, call 800-599-4950 or visit www.srinstitute.com.
April 1-3: Orlando, Florida-Standard & Poor's will host its annual Structured Finance Seminar. The keynote speaker will be Robert B. Reich, the former Secretary of Labor during President Bill Clinton's first term. For more information, call Standard & Poor's Events Marketing at (212) 438-2800, or visit www.standardandpoors.com.
June 20-23: Barcelona, Spain-Frank Fabozzi, Inc. presents the fifth annual Global Asset Securitization. For more information visit www.imn.org.
To have your event included in this section, please fax information to (212) 581-8736, or email to colleen.garry@tfn.com.
