News Analysis
Capital Relief Trades
Risk-sharing boost
Cajamar SRT sets tone for standardised banks
BCC Grupo Cajamar has completed a €972.1m Spanish true sale significant risk transfer transaction with the EIF, ICO and hedge fund investors. Dubbed IM BCC Capital 1, the transaction is the first cash SRT issued by a standardised bank and the first risk-sharing transaction by a standardised bank that involves both the EIF and private investors, paving the way for further private sector involvement in EIF transactions.
Indeed, the EIF is exploring an idea involving the use of private money for the partial funding of counter-guarantees, currently funded by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI).
Rated by Fitch and DBRS, the deal comprises €602.7m AAA/AA class A notes, €226.4m BBB+/BBB class B notes, €64.3m BB+/BB class C notes, €59.6m triple-C class D notes and €19.1m unrated class E notes. The class A notes are split into €319.3m and €283.4m that was guaranteed and purchased respectively by the EIF and Spanish state-owned bank ICO.
The EIF also guaranteed the class B and C notes with back-to-back guarantees from the EFSI. The class D and Es were bought by hedge funds at 7.49% and 12% respectively.
Further features include an approximately three-year portfolio WAL and pro-rata amortisation, with triggers to sequential, as stipulated in the EBA’s discussion paper on SRT. The deal has no replenishment features, being a static portfolio transaction.
As with most true sale ABS deals, the SRT features excess spread as a form of credit enhancement. Pablo Gonzalez Sanchez, structured finance manager at the EIF, notes: “The deal benefits from the natural spread of the portfolio, as is typical of true sale ABS deals. In this case, investors purchased the entire capital structure. It can be considered similar to selling the entire portfolio at par value.”
Regulators such as the ECB and the PRA have raised issues this year over the use of excess spread in SRT transactions, despite the fact that it’s not a balance sheet item. However, excess spread could complicate significant risk transfer if some of the tranches were retained, given that some of the portfolio income could be used to support the sold tranches (SCI 19 December 2018).
The transaction may also achieve IFRS 9 provisioning relief. Gonzalez notes: “It is a true sale deal with a full capital placement and that’s the most effective way to get the relief.”
The pool exhibits a high industry concentration in farming/agriculture (which represents 50.06% of the pool balance), followed by surface transport and business equipment and services at 7.23% and 5.50% respectively. There is also a high concentration of borrowers in Andalusia (at 38.67% of the portfolio balance), which is expected, given that Andalusia is the home region of the originator.
Further issuance by standardised banks can be expected, since they are regional banks situated in poorer European regions that fit well with the EIF’s policies. However, a key question is whether the market will see more standardised deals with private investors.
The EIF typically guarantees almost the entire capital structure, which can be prohibitively expensive for private investors, but standardised banks need a counterparty to guarantee the senior tranches. The alternative for these issuers is ratings that are accompanied by punitive risk weights for the senior tranches (SCI 8 May 2018).
However, this is where the Cajamar transaction demonstrates the value of risk-sharing and acts as a benchmark in this respect. The junior tranches of standardised deals could be bought by private investors, thereby providing access to hitherto unexplored markets.
Indeed, risk-sharing could extend to EFSI counter-guarantees. Georgi Stoev, structured finance manager at the EIF, explains: “An idea, which is still being explored, would stipulate that counter-guarantees - currently provided by EFSI funds for the lower part of the capital structure - could be complemented with private money from pension funds, insurers and credit funds. It would give private investors access to the EIF’s large origination capacity and allow them to reach new markets, given the EIF’s reputation and expertise.”
The Cajamar SRT follows a synthetic securitisation between the EIF and Polish lender Alior (SCI 21 December 2018). The agreement was made possible by the support of the EFSI.
The transaction features a three-layer tranche comprised of mezzanine, senior and first-loss pieces. The mezzanine tranche features a back-to-back guarantee under the Juncker plan, while the senior tranche has been retained on the EIF’s balance sheet. The mezzanine tranche was thinner in this case, compared to the typical mezzanine tranche size of a funded Polish transaction, which can reach 30%.
The EIB Group has supported 18 securitisations in the last 12 months. In December alone, the Group provided guarantees amounting to €1.7bn to banks in Poland, Italy, Germany and Spain.
Stelios Papadopoulos
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News Analysis
Capital Relief Trades
Mezz opportunity
Insurer interest in risk transfer on the rise
The facility recently inked by Texel Finance and Liberty Specialty Markets (SCI 9 November 2018) signals an increasing interest among insurers in providing meaningful risk transfer solutions for structured finance opportunities. One key area being targeted by the facility is mezzanine risk transfer for SRT transactions, following the coming into force of the new securitisation framework.
Alan Ball, broker at Texel Finance - which specialises in the placement of credit risk with the insurance market - says that although there is a huge opportunity for the facility (and insurance generally) to absorb mezzanine risk on SRT trades, the facility is flexible and can be applied to a diverse range of credit exposures that fall under the structured credit umbrella. While the facility can therefore be deployed on SRT trades, it can also be leveraged on other less liquid or structured credit opportunities, such as insurance-backed refinancing and syndication structures originated by Texel and used to attract alternative investment and syndication partners to new asset classes or sectors.
“The idea is to introduce insurance market capacity - which is significant and routinely used to provide huge volumes of capital relief to the banking sector on more traditional types of credit risk - to other, less traditional opportunities that still meet the market’s appetite, but which remain relatively untapped,” Ball explains. “For some opportunities, this may simply be because they are a little more structured in nature, resulting in what otherwise amounts to sensible and attractive credit fundamentals not being well articulated to the market. The insurance market has a huge capacity to adapt to clients’ business needs and we see the facility as part of this process.”
He continues: “At US$100m, the facility provides a meaningful level of risk transfer capacity. One of the advantages of the facility is that it enables us to expedite cover for our clients by pre-underwriting and structuring risks to fit Liberty’s requirements.”
The new securitisation framework means that thicker tranches can be required for synthetic securitisations, with more mezzanine risk needing to be sold at pricing less attractive than traditional first-loss tranches. The risk/return profiles of these tranches can be highly attractive to insurers providing credit protection.
“We are hearing about a dearth of investors in mezz risk from a number of sources,” Ball notes. “Insurance can be used to take this risk, either working directly with originators or in direct partnership with traditional first-loss investors, who may not find it attractive to deploy capital at more senior levels of risk.”
Insurance can be used by these parties to enhance or preserve their ROE, despite the reduced efficiency of some transactions for the bank. “Insurance works best when it’s a long-term partnership, so for originators, we can work closely with them to establish parameters around how their mezz risk transfer needs to operate across their deals. At its most efficient, the insurance capacity can then be used on a stand-by basis to provide risk transfer across a pipeline of future deals, minimising execution risk and the effort involved in having to find homes for new tranches that may be less appetising to the traditional investor market,” Ball continues.
He anticipates that the insurance market will become a regular partner on structured portfolio credit risk transfer, but suggests that a number of hurdles need to be overcome before this business becomes “routine”. Ball cites institutional reluctance to be the first-mover and lack of familiarity with credit insurance generally on the part of the teams that typically work in the more structured areas of credit risk transfer, but notes that these are usually surmountable, once the potential of insurance here is appreciated.
Ultimately a market for volume-based underwriting of credit risk could be built, according to Ball. “We’re mindful of setting the right precedent, as we see this area as a long-term opportunity – as a partner to banks on more structured opportunities, the insurance industry is somewhat of a sleeping giant. It already assumes huge volumes of financial risk from the banking sector to provide RWA relief and the facility simply represents an evolution of existing practice.”
He concludes: “Through working more closely, the financial and insurance markets can be of significant benefit to one another, but an education process needs to be gone through. Each market involves buying and selling risk, so it makes sense both economically and from a prudential perspective to share the risk.”
Corinne Smith
News Analysis
Capital Relief Trades
Credit events synchronised
BBVA completes innovative IFRS 9 hedge
BBVA has completed an innovative transaction that synchronises credit events with IFRS 9 lifetime expected loss provisions, while also being the first synthetic securitisation to incorporate blockchain technology (SCI 21 December 2018). Dubbed Vela Corporate 2018-1, the €60m financial guarantee references a €1bn Spanish corporate portfolio.
The EIF acted as counterparty to BBVA by providing a guarantee on the tranche, which will be used to provide €360m of Spanish SME financing. The agreement has been made possible thanks to the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI).
Further features of the deal include a time call subject to the deal’s 2.1-year weighted average life, pro-rata amortisation and credit enhancement in the form of a retained first-loss tranche.
IFRS 9 introduces a forward-looking view of credit quality, under which banks are required to recognise impairment provisions and corresponding impairment losses before the occurrence of a loss event. This is reflected in the standard’s three credit stages, with stage two requiring banks to provide for lifetime expected credit losses when there is a significant decline in creditworthiness but a loss event has not occurred.
The forward-looking quality of the accounting standard is challenging for synthetic securitisations in terms of how a credit event is defined. If deals are to be executed in order to hedge IFRS 9 LEL provisions, credit event pay-outs may have to be synchronised with IFRS 9 LEL provisions rather than incurred losses (SCI 20 December 2017). Yet, in practice, such synchronisation has never occurred, since credit events are still traditionally defined as bankruptcy, restructuring or failure to pay (SCI 15 June 2018).
The innovation of BBVA’s SRT is that it mimics the P&L of the portfolio by linking credit events with IFRS 9 provisions. Pablo Sanchez Gonzalez, structured finance manager at the EIF, explains: “This was already a novelty in an SME transaction that BBVA completed with the EIF in 2017. The difference with the corporate securitisation is that you don’t just have a fourth option in addition to the classical three credit event definitions - the fourth option being an increase in generic provisions - but also a tighter synchronisation of all credit events.”
This raises a major similarity and difference compared to traditional synthetic deals. The similarity is that investors look at realised losses: credit events are followed by settlements - typically based on estimated losses - until realised losses are crystallised towards the end of the work-out period. The difference, however, is that settlements also take into account the impact of IFRS 9 provisions before losses are again crystallised towards the end of the work-out period.
Given this difference, investors need to develop a better understanding of the issuer. Gonzalez notes: “It’s necessary to understand provision mechanics, historical provisions and historical losses. This requires a deep understanding of the issuer’s internal systems and an extensive due diligence.”
The BBVA SRT is not strictly the archetypal deal that would be done for IFRS 9 hedging purposes because to potentially benefit from the provisioning relief, banks need to sell tranches that attach at 0% and in this case BBVA retains a first-loss tranche. However, by broadening the range of losses that can be covered in a way that mimics the P&L, the deal offers a way forward in terms of how banks can manage the provisioning impact of the new accounting standard.
Additionally, Diego Martin Pena, head of securitisation at BBVA, notes: “The transaction uses blockchain technology to negotiate contracts automatically, reducing operational risks and boosting transparency. The negotiations were then recorded and followed by a hash or unique identifier of the signed agreement.”
The Spanish lender is a relatively new issuer in the risk transfer market, having issued three synthetic securitisations over the last 1.5 years, all with the EIF (see SCI’s capital relief trades database). Indeed, BBVA intends to continue issuing transactions with the EIF, given the fund’s knowledge of its internal systems and procedures.
However, “we would seriously consider risk-sharing transactions with the EIF and private investors, where private investors buy the junior tranche”, says Pena. He concludes: “Our origination isn’t increasing at the moment, so we intend to tap the market at least once a year.”
Stelios Papadopoulos
News
Structured Finance
SCI Start the Week - 7 January
A review of securitisation activity over the past seven days
Transaction of the week
Santander has launched an unusual synthetic securitisation of auto loans, dubbed Santander Consumer Spain Synthetic Auto 2018-1. The transaction comprises a €60.6m twelve-year CLN that references a €1.01bn portfolio of Spanish auto loans paying Euribor plus 8.90%.
Synthetic securitisations of granular, consumer portfolios are uncommon, as the structures are typically used for concentrated, non-granular portfolios. This is due to ease of execution and the ability to maintain borrower relationships.
The portfolio consists of 130,601 underlying loans for the acquisition of new and used vehicles and nearly 50% of the portfolio comprises small loans valued at €5000-€10,000, with new vehicles representing over two-thirds of the loans. When the portfolio is broken down by car manufacturer, Hyundai, Kia and Opel comprise 55% of the portfolio, with Hyundai capturing the bulk of the portion (20.3%).
The tranches in the transaction amortise on a pro-rata basis and the deal includes a time call that is subject to the portfolio's 3.25-year weighted average life. Further features include a one-year revolving period and credit enhancement in the form of a 1% retained first loss tranche. The lack of any excess spread benefit explains the higher coupon than is normally seen in traditional auto loan securitisations with excess spread.
Other deal-related news
Banca Carige has been placed into temporary administration by the European Central Bank (ECB) following the resignation of the majority of Banca Carige's board members. The decision is unlikely to negatively impact Banca Carige's non-performing loan (NPL) securitisation programme and could actually expedite its NPL disposal plans.
Elizabeth Rudman, md, head of European FIG at DBRS emphasises that it is a temporary administration organised by the ECB and that it ultimately resulted from an impasse, due to the shareholders blocking the additional capital required by the ECB. She says that Banca Carige had made progress last year in issuing the necessary subordinated debt issue, but when it failed to get approval for the capital raise, the temporary administration became a way to move things forward.
Vito Natale, head of European RMBS and CBs at DBRS, comments: "I think a key thing to note is what the ECB has stated in the press release - that they have taken control for the bank's continuity, stability and to ensure existing objectives, such as NPLs disposals, are met. If anything, the plans to resolve the bank's issues - and to resolve its NPL burden - should be accelerated now and it should be able to achieve financial stability more quickly."
Data
Pricings
An unsurprisingly quiet week last week, but the most notably active area was in CLOs where a handful of deals priced, along with a pair of CMBS transactions.
CLOs: US$400m AIMCO CLO 2018-B, US$500m Benefit Street Partners CLO XVI, US$506.35m Dryden 70 CLO, US$461.38m Halcyon Loan Advisors Funding 2018-2, US$400m Marble Point CLO XIV, €400m Invesco Euro CLO I, US$600m Symphony CLO XV.
CMBS: US$796.80m Morgan Stanley Capital I Trust 2018-H4, US$1.049bn Benchmark 2018-B8 Mortgage Trust.
BWIC volumes
News
Capital Relief Trades
Risk transfer round-up - 11 January
CRT sector developments and deal news
The fourth quarter of 2018 saw a slew of risk transfer deals typical of year-end issuance (SCI 21 December 2018). Among the deals that are believed to have been completed last month are two corporate trades from BNP Paribas. One is understood to be a club deal, while the other is rumoured to be a bilateral deal with PGGM.
The French lender’s last capital relief trade issuance was a Polish corporate SRT, which closed in December 2017 (see SCI’s capital relief trades database).
Market Moves
Structured Finance
Freddie Mac launches debut reinsurance deal
Company hires and sector developments
Acquisitions
doBank has acquired 85% of NPL servicer Altamira Asset Management from entities affiliated with funds managed by Apollo Global Management, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, following a competitive sales process. The shareholding involved in the sale may be increased to 100%, should Santander - holder of the remaining 15% interest in the share capital of Altamira - decide to exercise its tag-along right provided for in existing agreements before closing. The acquisition of 100% of Altamira has been valued at €412m in enterprise value, plus an earn-out of up to €48m linked to the international development of the business. The combined entities will have assets under management of over €140bn (gross book value) and over 2,200 employees.
Mr Cooper Group is set to acquire servicing rights underlying US$24bn in GSE mortgages, while entering into a subservicing contract for an additional US$24bn of mortgages and purchasing the Seterus mortgage servicing platform from IBM. IBM acquired Seterus in the wake of the financial crisis to help a client manage a portfolio of distressed loans, but the portfolio has now stabilised and is no longer core to its business. Mr. Cooper expects to fund the acquisition with financing on the mortgage servicing rights and cash. Subject to regulatory approvals, the transaction is targeted to close in 1Q19.
EMEA
Proskauer has recruited corporate partner Elisabeth Baltay to its London office, to help build the firm’s position in the restructuring space. Baltay represents clients in complex multi-jurisdictional financing and alternative capital financing, restructurings, real estate and asset financing, public to private financing, project finance and secured syndicated corporate lending. She was previously a partner at King & Spalding.
North America
Eversheds Sutherland has promoted Jenny Worthy to counsel. Resident in the firm’s Atlanta office, Worthy advises banks, REITs, insurance companies and borrowers in financing commercial real estate transactions, including origination, workouts and distressed asset transactions. She also works with lending clients on the origination of loans with diverse debt stack structures, including single asset, mezzanine and financings intended for securitisation. The firm has also promoted Sean Diamond to the role of counsel and he will work out of its New York office. His experience includes includes purchases and sales of entities, acquisitions and dispositions of blocks of business using indemnity or assumption reinsurance, credit for reinsurance, servicing arrangements, surplus notes, credit facilities, and life insurance reserve securitisation transactions.
Reich Brothers Holdings has recapitalised its affiliated asset-based lending company, now known as Reich Bros Structured Finance. As part of the recapitalisation, the firm has obtained increased credit facilities allowing for growth of the loan portfolio. A Liquid Capital Corp affiliate provided a portion of the facilities and has also taken an equity stake in the business. The principals of Reich Brothers, Jonathan and Adam Reich, will maintain their ownership stake in the business. Additionally, former Victory Park Capital principal Jordan Allen has joined the company as a principal, while Lee Portman – previously cfo at INXPO – has been named cfo.
Reinsurer CRT
Freddie Mac has expanded its multifamily credit risk transfer platform with the closing of its first transaction – dubbed MCIP 2018-1 – under its new Multifamily Credit Insurance Pool (MCIP) offering. In MCIP transactions, Freddie Mac enters into long-term credit insurance contracts covering credit losses from existing multifamily loans in its portfolio or bonds that Freddie Mac fully guarantees. The structure transfers a percentage of credit risk to reinsurers, helping reduce the GSE’s need to hold capital for the underlying loans in the pool. Under MCIP 2018-1, Freddie Mac purchased credit risk insurance for the first 5% of credit losses on a US$915m reference pool, consisting of 55 loans in its Bond Credit Enhancement and Multifamily Participation Certificate programme portfolios. Five reinsurers participated in the transaction.
Market Moves
Structured Finance
UK tax partner pinched
Sector developments and company hires
UK
Hunton Andrews Kurth has recruited David Klass as a partner in its London office. Klass brings more than 15 years of experience advising on a wide range of tax issues and transactions, particularly those with an international element. Among the clients he advises are asset originators and arrangers in connection with structured finance deals. He was previously a partner with the London office of Gide Loyrette Nouel.
US
Clifford Chance has hired Steven Mastrovich to its New York office, where he will be involved in the firm’s REIT, real estate, hospitality, private equity, fintech and specialty finance practices. He will be supporting clients in private capital raising, joint venture and capital formation, enterprise reorganisations, complex transactions and in developing next step strategies to support enterprise growth and success. Prior to joining the firm, he was md and head of real estate at UBS in its private funds group, with global responsibility for the real estate private capital markets business.
New York Mortgage Trust has named Jason Serrano as president of the company, reporting to ceo Steven Mumma. Serrano was previously a partner at Oak Hill Advisors and ran its mortgage investment business. Prior to joining OHA, he served as a principal at Blackstone (where he led the structured finance investment team) and a vp at Fortress (assisting in the management of US$2bn of distressed structured products and whole loan portfolios).
Market Moves
Structured Finance
US firms see flurry of hires
Sector developments and company hires
US
Bay Crest Partners has bolstered its fixed income business with a trio of senior hires: Tadeusz (Ted) Jachowicz, Jatin Dewanwala and Greg Hackett. Jachowicz and Dewanwala previously ran Metacapital Management's structured credit effort, including portfolios of ABS, CMBS and RMBS. Hackett joins Bay Crest following five years at RBC, where he headed the firm's CMBS and CRE debt financing business.
Global Atlantic Financial Group has hired Anup Agarwal as deputy cio, responsible for leading its investing activities across all asset classes, including approximately US$60bn in credit, structured products, loans and real assets. Based in Global Atlantic’s New York office, he will report to Gilles Dellaert, co-president and cio of the firm. Agarwal has over 20 years of experience, most recently serving as head of residential, consumer and commercial credit at Western Asset Management, where he was responsible for managing more than US$60bn in structured products and structured credit strategies.
KeyBanc Capital Markets has appointed Warren Geiger as md, overseeing CMBS new issues and secondary market trading. Based in New York, he reports to Tom Goodrick, md and head of fixed income trading. Geiger most recently served as md and head of secondary CMBS trading at Société Générale, and before that was co-head of secondary market trading at Citi, having begun his career researching CMBS portfolios at AIG Global Investment Corp. Additionally, KeyBanc has hired Antonio Blasetti as a vp in the ABS trading space, while Patrick Carvell and Rob Salazar joined the firm’s structured products sales team. Based in New York, Blasetti was most recently at Brean Capital, where he was responsible for ABS trading and MBS sales. Carvell joins from Hunt Financial Securities and is based in Atlanta, while Salazar joins from Guggenheim Securities and is based in Chicago.
Walker & Dunlop has hired Todd Johnson to its debt and structured finance as svp. He will be based out of New Orleans and will be responsible for sourcing and placing structured finance capital for commercial real estate asset classes across the country. Prior to joining Walker & Dunlop, Johnson was director of equity products at Bellwether Enterprise Real Estate Capital.
Europe
Gide has promoted Guillaume Goffin and Nicolas Jean to partner. Goffin works within asset management and the transactional and regulatory aspects of financial transactions while Jean works in the projects division, financial and infrastructure, having previously worked in the structured finance team in Paris.
Hampshire Trust Bank (HTB) has relaunched its asset finance division as Specialist Business Finance, which includes a new specialist structured asset finance business line. Robert Still and Richard O’Brien have been recruited to lead the new business, joining from Amicus Asset Finance, where they served as director of business development and business development manager respectively. The pair are based in London and report to Jon Maycock, md of the Specialist Business Finance division. The structured asset finance business will focus predominantly on restructuring debts with a typical ticket size ranging from £250,000 to £2.5m.
JPMorgan has hired Denis Gardrat as md and head of credit structuring. He was previously European head of credit structuring at BNP Paribas.
Market Moves
Structured Finance
Solar equity ABS launched
Sector developments and company hires
Acquisitions
American Mortgage Consultants (AMC) has acquired Meridian Asset Services, (Meridian), joining two of the premier service providers in the residential secondary mortgage market. The transaction will unite Meridian’s leading collateral, curative and title QC capabilities with AMC’s third-party review services and technology to support rated private-label securitisation transactions, due diligence and quality control. Meridian will operate as a subsidiary of AMC and retain its branding and senior management team. Meridian will continue to be overseen by Karen Riffe who is joining AMC as the president, Meridian Asset Services. Brian Hansen will also join AMC as the director, strategic relationships and initiatives. Through the acquisition, AMC will add approximately 250 full-time employees in the greater Tampa area.
Europe
DLA Piper has hired Jacques Wantz as partner to its tax practice, based in Luxembourg. Wantz joins the firm from Allen & Overy, where he worked since 2008 and he specialises in international and corporate tax law, focussing on the tax aspects of cross-border private equity, real estate and debt investments and the tax structuring of regulated and unregulated investment funds. He also advises on the tax elements of corporate restructurings, securitisation and capital markets transactions.
ILS
Rick Pagnani has been named evp and head of PIMCO’s ILS business, based in Bermuda. Pagnani was previously ceo of Mt Logan Re and md at Everest Global Services. Before that, he was a partner at TigerRisk Partners and ceo of Ascendant Reinsurance.
Japanese office opened
SANNE, a global provider of alternative asset and corporate services, has opened a new office in Tokyo, Japan. SANNE has appointed Mark Bennett as country head of SANNE’s Japanese business.
Loan disposal
Separate meetings of Marketplace Originated Consumer Assets 2017-1 noteholders have been convened for 14 January to consider and, if thought fit, pass an ordinary resolution in accordance with the provisions of the transaction’s trust deed to dispose of 550 delinquent loans from the portfolio. Based on the cut-off date of 16 October 2018, the loans have a total principal amount outstanding of £3.86m, of which £75,102 subsequently defaulted (as of 31 December 2018). The proceeds from the sale of the assets is expected to be £957,015.
Solar equity ABS
Canadian Solar has completed the first equity securitisation to be backed by long-term contracted solar assets. The firm successfully raised ¥6.3bn from a diversified mix of Japanese and Korean institutional investors in its inaugural transaction, dubbed Canadian Solar Securitized Green Equity Trust 1. Proceeds from the offering were deployed to acquire the 23.8MWp Smart Solar Yamaguchi-Aio Solar Power Plant and the 10.2MWp CSJ Kamikitagun Rokunohemachi Solar Power Plant. Maturing in September 2037, the securities have been rated as Green 1 (the highest ESG investment tier) by the Japan Credit Rating Agency, while the underlying solar power plants have each received a single-A rating as non-recourse project bonds. Electricity generation from the plants will be purchased by Tohoku Electric Power Co and Chugoku Electric Power Company under 20-year feed-in-tariff contracts at the rates of ¥36 and ¥40 per kWh respectively. The portfolio is expected to produce 38,580 MWh of clean solar energy annually, or sufficient to reduce 25,441 tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
US
SFIG has named Michael Bright as president and ceo, effective 21 January 2019. Bright will lead SFIG's education, policy and advocacy initiatives, helping to achieve the group's goal of building the broadest possible consensus among members across the industry, and reinforcing the understanding that securitisation is an essential source of core funding for the real economy. He will report to SFIG's board of directors He has extensive experience as a policymaker, practitioner and leader across all aspects of the securities industries. He joins SFIG from Ginnie Mae, where he was evp and coo, managing all operations for Ginnie Mae's US$2trn MBS portfolio.
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