People
CMBS veteran Ron Wechsler, formerly of GMAC Commercial Mortgage and PaineWebber, will be taking over Salomon Smith Barney's conduit business starting next week. Joe Franzetti, who had been in charge of the conduit, will be spearheading a new large-loan group at SSB along with Daniel LePage, Rick Schlenger, John Cavanagh, Michael Fallin and Michael Danberg. The large-loan unit will focus on dealing with loans that can be securitized on a standalone or fusion format. "We never focused on this in a major way, so now we are focusing our resources on this to add to an incredible platform in terms of customer needs and the strength of the investment bank," Franzetti said. Before joining GMAC Commercial Mortgage as senior vice president last December, Wechsler headed PaineWebber's conduit group for four years, but was laid off along with several others shortly after UBS Warburg bought the firm. Prior to that, Wechsler spent seven years at Fitch, where he was the head of the CMBS group.
ABS veteran Rob Karr started last Monday (July 9) as a principal at Banc of America Securities, where his responsabilities will include trading RMBS-related ABS and CDOs. Karr is formerly of Prudential Securities, where he worked for more than 11 years, rising to senior vice president, trading non-conforming RMBS, ABS and CMOs. In his new position he will report to Christopher Hentemann, a managing director at the firm, and Patrick Augustine, head of RMBS and ABS CDO trading.
In a homecoming of sorts, Edward Mikus has joined Nomura Securities as a director in the CMBS structuring unit. Mikus, who will be reporting to David Jacobs, had been at Deutsche Bank since 1999, where he was a director working on the structuring of CMBS transactions. Prior to that, he was at Nomura for four years, where he was a senior member of the securitization group. Before his first stint at Nomura, Mikus was at JPMorgan.
Also at Nomura, Teresa Cho recently joined the mortgage research area as an analyst, reporting to Mark Adelson.
Law firm Dechert Price & Rhoads recently added four structured finance partners to its Boston-based office. Lew Burleigh, Ross Pascal, Cindy Williams and Bruce Hickey previously practiced with Day, Berry & Howard LLP. Together, they bring experience in real estate financing, equipment leasing, securitizations, private placements and international investments to the firm.
John Rhinelander has joined RBC Dominion Securities, as head of the bank's asset-backed group. Rhinelander was most recently head of North American securitization at JPMorgan, before resigning earlier this year, reportedly because he was discontent with post-merger complications.
According to sources, Rhinelander replaces Steve Grossnickle, formerly head of RBC's asset-backed group.
Dominion Bond Rating Service is looking to add to its structured finance team. The Canadian rating agency is looking for someone with transactional and a couple of years experience in the industry.
News
United Rentals Inc. disclosed in a July 5 registration statement plans to securitize equipment rental receivables accounts within the next 12 months, according to records filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission.The Greenwich, Conn.-based construction and industrial equipment rental concern most recently sold $100 million of a private placement via Credit Lyonnais Securities in December 2000. A company spokesman would not comment specifically on any future issuance but added that the company was not ready to tap the public term markets yet.
Dominion Resources completed the divestiture of Saxon Mortgage Inc. Dominion will retain $300 million in securitized loans.
Ratings
In addition to downgrading Argentina to B- from B+ with a negative outlook, Fitch also downgraded several regional provinces within the country. Buenos Aires, Mendoza, Salta, Terra del Fuego and San Juan were among the regions.
Calendar 2001
Sept. 11-12: Berlin Germany Information Management Network will present Securitization in Deutschland. For more information, see www.imn.org.
Sept. 12-13: Berlin, Germany 2001: A CDO Event will be hosted by Information Management Network. For more information, e-mail mail@imn.org or call 212-768-2800 ext. 1.
Sept. 30-Oct.3: Southhampton Princess, Bermuda- The Strategic Research Institute presents The Bermuda ABS 2001 Symposium. For more information, visit www.srinstitute.com or call 888-666-8514.
Oct.1-3: Washington, D.C.-International Venture Partners, LLC will host the Latin Summit and Expo Americas, the premier conference for investing in the Americas. For more information, visit www.latin-summit.com
Oct. 2-5: Paradise Island, Bahamas - ABS East 2001 will be sponsored by Information Management Network. For more information call Scott Brody at (212) 768-2800 ext 210.
Oct. 23-24: Rome, Italy Information Management Network presents the Italian and Southern European Securitization Conference. For more information, visit www.IMN.org.
Nov. 13: New York, NY Information Management Network will host Credit Derivatives in 2 Venues. One will be in New York, and one will be in London. The date has yet to be announced for London, however it will be in the Fall of 2001. For more information, visit www.imn.org.
