Contents

ABS

Jurisdiction expansion

European ABS market update

IPTs were released today for Mercedes-Benz's inaugural French auto ABS. Dubbed Silver Arrow France 2020-1, the €689.7m transaction is STS compliant and backed predominantly by auto leases.

The jurisdictions that Mercedes-Benz has previously issued in includes Australia, Germany, Italy and the UK. “As happened for other captive auto finance companies, Mercedes is broadening its business and replicating the successful model adopted in its home country. Other automakers have taken the same path - including Fiat, when it issued German auto ABS - in recent years,” notes one ABS trader.

The WAL of the single offered senior tranche is unusually short, set at just 0.9 years. The trader suggests that the tranche is being targeted at money market funds and bank treasuries, which typically buy shorter-dated paper.

The coupon of the senior tranche is set at Euribor plus 70bp, with IPTs at 45 area. Commenting on the tight spread, another trader says: “The collateral is different and there is not a huge amount of European supply, so it is a welcome development. The market is still demanding paper and assets.”

The pool is comprised of auto leases (92.8%) and a small portion of loans. Residual value exposures account for 57.1% of the balance.

The contracts consist of commercial/SME borrowers (51.1%) and private borrowers (48.9%). New cars secure 87.6% of the contracts.

Pricing is expected as early as tomorrow, 22 October, and follows one of the largest prints so far this year - Santander’s SC Germany Consumer 2020-1, which was upsized to €1.8bn.

Jasleen Mann

Structured Finance

SCI Start the Week - 19 October

A review of securitisation activity over the past seven days

Last week's stories
Compromise pending
Parliament softens stance on 'problematic' proposals
Made in the USA
Speakers at SCI conference herald dawn of new era for US CRT
Movie magic
Rare securitisation of film library future revenues finds buyers
SME CRT completed
Intesa finalises mezz guarantee

Other deal-related news

• LendingClub is winding down its retail note programme and has ceased accepting new accounts (SCI 12 October).
• The EIB has approved €5.1bn of new financing to support investment by companies most impacted by Covid-19, alongside backing clean energy, water, sustainable transport and urban development (SCI 14 October).
• Scope has upgraded tranches B to F of Santander's synthetic UK CRE CLO Red 2 Finance CLO 2018-1 and armed the triple-A rating of the A tranche (SCI 14 October).
• Diversification risk across the US CLO market has increased this year, due to the 18% decline in US leveraged loan net supply over 2019 versus 79 different managers issuing deals in 2020 (SCI 16 October).
• Dock Street Capital Management has replaced Collineo Asset Management as collateral manager to the House of Europe Funding IV ABS CDO (SCI 16 October).

Data

BWIC volume

Secondary market commentary from SCI PriceABS
15 October 2020
USD CLO AAA
Liquidity was similar to yesterday with 36 covers - 16 x AAA, 3 x AA, 5 x A, 7 x BBB and 5 x BB. The 1st pay AAAs trade flat 132dm-153dm, whilst there are 2 x 2nd pay AAAs (1 x FRN and 1 x Fixed). Firstly there is Voya's VOYA 2017-4A A2 (FRN) that covers 172dm / 4.3y WAL which is a good data point for a rare profile which is c.10dm-20dm off 1st pay wides which seems in line. There is a fixed rate 2nd pay AAA as mentioned, this is CBAM's CBAM 2017-1A A2R that yields 2.53% / 4.77y WAL - this bond has widened as covered 2.11% a week back, with no additional reporting since and MVOC flat this is evidence of widening on this rare fixed rate profile.
USD CLO Mezz/Equity
The AAs trade 189dm-225dm (2018-2021 RP profiles) broadly in line with 190dm-250dm context over the past few weeks in these shorter dated profiles, no weakening per se.
The single-As trade 311dm-413dm (2020/2024 RP profiles) which are wide to 270dm-300dm recent context, much of this to do with the fact that today's bonds have credit issues with ADR's as high as 3.7% and significantly compromised IDT/Jnr OC cushions at the wide end so the weakening can be attributed to credit rather than market softening at this rating level.
The BBBs trade 402dm-512dm across 2020-2024 RP profiles broadly flat to 350dm-500dm recent context, at the wide end MVOC weakness drives trading levels with recent MVOCs at this rating level 107+ whilst Sound Point's SNDPT 2013-1A B1R trades 512dm / 6.5y WAL with MVOC of 105.6.
BBs today trade 844dm-947dm across 2023/2024 RP profiles which sit within 740dm-960dm recent context, once again cuspier MVOCs driving BBs closer to 1000dm with LCM and Pretium managed BBs running cuspy MVOCs in 101.5 context and cover today 940dm-950dm with fundamental credit metrics reasonable.
EUR MEZZ/EQUITY CLO
Just 7 mezz trades today - 3 x A & 4 x BB. The 3 single A's have traded between 325dm and 360dm. Laurelin 2016-1 and Accunia 4 both traded at 325dm (which is about 15bps tighter on the curve) and Man GLG 6 traded at 360dm. Of course Man Group shelves always trade wide although, in this case, the Jnr OC cushion of this deal is in good shape at 4.47%.
Of the 4 BBs, three of them have traded between 725dm and 760dm which is an unchanged BB level. The outlier is Cairn 8 which traded at 810dm. It does have an MV OC of 104.80% which is about 2 points lower than the other bonds. Having said that its Jnr OC cushion is 4.48% which is perfectly fine.
DM, Yield & WAL - proprietary SCI data points complement Cover prices
PriceABS Data now includes DM/Yield/WAL for all CLO trading and Euro ABS/RMBS.

Capital Relief Trades

Risk transfer round-up - 20 October

CRT sector developments and deal news

Standard Chartered is rumoured to be prepping a capital relief trade backed by emerging market corporate loans from the START programme. The last START transaction closed in September 2015 (see SCI’s capital relief trades database).

Capital Relief Trades

Risk transfer round-up - 21 October

CRT sector developments and deal news

Lloyds is believed to still be attempting to execute its second transaction from the Fontwell programme. The deal is backed by agricultural loans and was expected to close in 3Q20, but the bank has allegedly found it hard to sell the mezzanine tranche at below 5%. The last Fontwell deal closed in December 2016 (see SCI’s capital relief trades database).

Capital Relief Trades

Risk transfer return

BDK preps capital relief trade

Bank Deutsches Kraftfahrzeuggewerbe (BDK) is marketing a full-stack capital relief trade backed by a static €1bn German auto loan portfolio. Dubbed Red & Black Auto Germany Seven, the deal is broadly similar to R&B Six, although changes have been made to the composition of the portfolio and the payment triggers.

Rated by S&P and Fitch, the transaction consists of €935m AAA/AAA rated class A notes, €25m AA+/AA rated class B notes, €25m A/A rated class C notes, €10m BBB/ BBB rated class D notes and €5m unrated and retained class E notes. The WAL of the senior tranche equals 1.84 years, while that of classes B-D amount to 2.78 years.

Credit enhancement is present in the transaction in the form of an excess spread mechanism, which is expected to be above 2.5% at closing. Societe Generale acted as the arranger in the transaction, as well as for R&B Six. The latter was BDK’s first full-stack capital relief trade and printed last year among a flurry of full-stack issuance (SCI 2 December 2019).

The lender wanted to keep the transaction structure as close as possible to number Six, but changes in some features have been made. Indeed, unlike R&B Six, the latest transaction does not contain any loans granted to commercial borrowers, but is solely backed by private ones, given that the latter perform better in terms of cumulative gross defaults. Loans under payment holidays are excluded from the pool.

The purely private portfolio has in turn affected the credit enhancement for the class A notes. Jan Groesser, director at Societe Generale, notes: “The size of the class E and D is the same as the last one, but we slightly adjusted the sizes for C, B and A. Credit enhancement for A is slightly less than number Six because the pool is 100% backed by private borrowers.”

Finally, the payment triggers have been modified, with the cumulative loss trigger rising to 1.5% compared to 1.1% for number Six. “This change decreases the probability of a shift to sequential amortisation. The transaction starts sequentially, but once credit enhancement builds up for class A to the target amount, then the tranches A-D amortise pro-rata,” says Groesser.

He adds: “However, if the trigger is breached, it switches back to sequential. We just changed the magnitude of the trigger.”

The deal is expected to price next week.  

Stelios Papadopoulos

Capital Relief Trades

Corona kickstart

Constellation of factors coalesced to push the US CRT market forward

Covid 19 may have given the US CRT market the kick start it needed, suggests David Felsenthal, a New York-based partner at leading global law practice Clifford Chance.

“Coronavirus has underlined the value of capital. People are sensitive to the fact that they might need capital going forward, and CRT gives you capital relief,” he says.

Over the past seven or eight months, there has been mounting evidence that the US CRT market - for so long in the shadow of its European cousin - is exiting the doldrums and entering a new period of growth and popularity.

There have been several issues in 2020 from JP Morgan, a recent CLN from Goldman Sachs while Citigroup has continued to be a regular practitioner of the mechanism.

There are other factors at play as well as the light shone by the pandemic upon the value of the capital, however.

It seems that regulators are more willing than hitherto to give CRT trades the green light, ensuring the capital relief that banks seek. JP Morgan, for example, issued a CRT note in 2016 which was denied regulatory approval, but the October 2019 note received the thumbs up from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in February of this year.

It needs to be stressed that this change of position is not entirely due to a shift in thinking at the OCC. The 2016 deal was structurally different to the 2019 deal as it involved the transfer of mortgages to an SPV while the most recent deal is a direct issue. Moreover, recent bank deals have also embraced a CLN format, which falls within the approved categorisation of the synthetic securitization of capital.

Nonetheless, it appears to many observers that US regulators are turning a friendlier eye upon CRT than they did in the past.

Acting comptroller of the currency Brian Brooks, at the 25 September meeting of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), issued a statement that suggested the OCC wishes to see extended use of the CRT mechanism. Saying that the OCC seeks to ensure that banks continue to play a “meaningful role” in the provision of housing finance, he added that in this connection “one area in particular that we are looking at closely is the provision of capital relief for credit risk transfer transactions, an area also addressed in the FHFA’s re-proposal.”

The FHFA has also made sympathetic noises about bank use of CRT. In its re-proposed capital rules, issued at the end of May, it reduced the capital relief that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae might hope to enjoy from CRT in the hope that the GSEs would be brought more into line with bank practice. There was talk of “levelling the playing field.”

All this has emboldened the banks. “There was some trepidation that regulators might not allow it, but they look round and see big US banks doing deals. They have got more confident,” says Felsenthal.

Of course, all this may change - along with much else - if there is a change of administration on Capitol Hill after November 3. It is hard to know which way a Democratic polity would swing with regard to CRT.

On the one hand, it is likely that Democrats would be in favour of increased bank lending, which, in theory, CRT makes possible. On the other hand, CRT is unequivocally a branch of financial engineering, which, in the past, has not found favour with Democrat lawmakers. It is, however, seemingly unlikely that a new administration would deny banks all access to CRT programmes.

The success and growth of the GSEs’ CAS and STACR programmes has also alerted banks to the possibilities of capital relief through CRT. At the end of 2019, Fannie Mae had issued $43bn of CAS securities, transferring risk on $1.3trn of unpaid principal of mortgages, while by the end of Q2 2020 Freddie Mac had issued $58bn of STACR securities, transferring $1.6trn of risk.

“People look at this and say, ‘if it works for the GSEs there must be a way for us,” says Felsenthal.

Of course, the ultimate endorsement of CRT depends on its economic viability viz a viz other forms of capital friendly debt, such as subordinated debt issuance. But the evidence is growing that CRT will become an important mechanism for an increasing number of American banks.

Simon Boughey

CLOs

Restructuring capacity

LMLs introduced to European CLOs

Recently issued Deer Park CLO was the first European deal to provide for loss mitigation loans (LMLs) and enable its manager to invest outside of eligibility criteria during restructuring events, according to a new report from Fitch.

“This concept, alongside the existing corporate rescue loan mechanism, bolsters the transaction's ability to play an active role in restructurings, while the conditions on doing so ensure that the mechanism does not add material risk to noteholders,” the rating agency explains. “US CLOs already include concepts that allow managers to guard against arbitrage opportunities produced by the issuer's inability to participate in specific workout proceedings which include additional funding.”

The LMLs introduced in Deer Park, which priced on 21 August 2020, allow the manager to acquire a new obligation in connection with a default or restructuring of an existing obligation that, in the manager's judgement, will enhance the recovery, the transaction includes aggregate and cumulative limits. The LMLs do not qualify as collateral obligations, are not subject to reinvestment or eligibility criteria and are not included in collateral-quality tests.

Deer Park's LMLs may contribute towards coverage tests should they fulfil certain criteria, but thereafter all proceeds from are directed towards the principal account. An LML may be reclassified as a collateral obligation should it subsequently satisfy the eligibility criteria.

The use of interest proceeds to acquire LMLs is subject to all coverage tests passing and no deferral of interest due to occur following the acquisition. The use of principal is limited to excess par, satisfaction of the par-value tests and subject to further conditions on the new obligation itself. The manager would first have to build par, increasing the collateral balance above the target par balance. Principal could only be used to purchase LMLs if the transaction is still above target par after the purchase.

Distributions from LMLs that are acquired with principal proceeds or are included in the collateral principal amount of the par-value test (at the recovery rate) are made to the principal account ensuring preservation, or even growth, of par. If coverage tests are not likely to be satisfied at the following payment date, LML proceeds shall flow to the principal account. All remaining distributions are made to the interest account.

“While the mechanism allows the manager to enhance recoveries by participating in non-eligible obligations, overall the transaction should be performing favourably to satisfy the above criteria,” Fitch notes. “CLOs, unlike distressed funds, primarily invest in performing assets. Any investment in non-performing credits would therefore be factored into Fitch's analysis.”

Jasleen Mann

RMBS

Mezz opportunity

'Rare' bonds on offer via large BWIC

A sizeable UK mezzanine 2.0 RMBS BWIC is due on 22 October and is being seen as a good opportunity to source risk. The portfolio is believed to be being divested by a large US-based seller.

“The seller is a large US-based institution that has been active in the UK for a number of years,” says one ABS trader. “This is the first time it is executing a bid-list like this. I am guessing, in part, it is to try to take profit.”

The BWIC comprises 48 bonds totalling £595m in UPB, split across 11 groups according to rating, from double-A to single-B. Four of the groups consist of buy-to-let bonds and six consist of non-conforming bonds. There is also a £163.53m mixed BTL/NC group of net interest margin securities.

The collateral backing almost all of the transactions was originated pre-2008. Almost half of the bonds were issued under the Towd Point Mortgage Funding programme. Other names include CANBY, CIEL, FSQ, HWKSM, PMF, STRA and TWRBG.

The trader suggests that the BWIC represents a good opportunity to source risk in meaningful size, especially given the paucity of mezz supply in the primary ABS market. “Some of these bonds have rarely come to the market; much of the paper is not often traded. I imagine a number of market participants who are quite active in the space will be interested in bidding,” he adds.

Preference is expected to be given to AON bids. The BWIC is scheduled for 1pm London time.

Jasleen Mann

Structured Finance

CLO structures reviewed

Sector developments and company hires

CLO structures reviewed
Post-Covid crisis US BSL CLO structures differ in a range of ways from their predecessors, beyond shorter reinvestment periods, according to a new report from S&P.

“We reviewed a sample of almost 40 US BSL CLOs that closed in Q2 and Q3, and compared their portfolio metrics (as of the start of Q4) to the statistics in the CLO Insights 2020 Index,” the rating agency says. “Because the index includes only CLOs that closed before 2020, this gives us a good overview of the differences between the deals issued since Covd-19 began and those issued earlier.”

By the start of Q4, the credit quality of the portfolios of the newer deals was notably better than that of the Index. Triple-C buckets represented less than 3% for the newer deals, while exposure to single-Bs and above was significantly higher.

S&P also found that the newer deals have higher average exposure to issuers within the software, telecom and insurance industries (5.5% higher than the Index). However, they have lower average exposure to the sectors that have been more directly negatively impacted by Covid-19 so far (hotel/restaurant/leisure, entertainment, retail, energy and auto components: 4.3% lower than the Index).

In addition, newer CLOs have less exposure to smaller corporate issuers. Overall, S&P concludes: “The new issuance CLO market continues to evolve, with CLO structures returning to the levels seen before Covid-19.”

In other news…

Acquisitions
Alantra AM has acquired a 49% stake in Indigo Capital, a pan-European private debt asset manager. Based in Paris, Indigo specialises in SME financing through a combination of private bonds and preferred equity. Since inception, the firm’s seven investment professionals have completed over 50 investments for a total value of more than €800m across France, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the UK.

Lazard Asset Management (LAM) has expanded its alternative investment platform, with the addition of a New York-based team and its long/short credit strategy. Sal Naro, Vincent Mistretta, Michael Cannon and Sanjay Aiyar have joined LAM from Coherence Capital Partners, forming the Lazard Coherence investment team. The Lazard Coherence Long/Short Credit Strategy actively identifies long and short bond positions, focusing on North American and European investment grade, cross-over and high yield fixed income markets.

Hearing due for Hertz DIP deal
Hertz Global Holdings has secured commitments for debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing totalling US$1.65bn and has filed a motion for approval of the financing by the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The proposed DIP financing will support the company as it moves through the next stage of its Chapter 11 process.

The financing is to be provided by certain of the Hertz's pre-petition first-lien lenders and is expected to be structured as a delayed draw term loan debtor facility. Up to US$1bn can be used to provide equity for vehicle acquisition in the US and Canada, while up to US$800m can be used for working capital and general corporate purposes.

A court hearing is scheduled for 29 October. Moelis & Co is serving as Hertz’s investment banker, FTI Consulting is serving as its financial advisor and White & Case its legal advisor.

Trade finance ABS closed
Standard Chartered has closed Prunelli Issuer I Compartment 2020-1, a rare revolving US$1.45bn securitisation of trade finance exposures granted to corporates and financial institutions. Rated Aaa/AAA by Moody’s and Scope, the pool is diversified geographically - with sizeable portions from Singapore, China, Hong Kong and India - but has a significant concentration (51%) in the banking industry.

The transaction’s initial 12-month revolving period can, subject to certain conditions, be extended up to three times for a subsequent 12 months. The revolving period can be terminated upon the occurrence of a stop revolving event.

The assets have short tenors, with a weighted average life covenant of 91 days, and the portfolio will amortise quickly after the revolving period.

Structured Finance

Leasing ABS inked

Sector developments and company hires

Leasing ABS inked
The EIB and the EIF have provided Alba Leasing with €490m via an SME securitisation financing operation. Alba Leasing has undertaken to double this, increasing the total amount available to €980m for projects across all economic sectors, with a particular focus on environmental investments (for which 20% of the resources have been reserved).

The EIB Group has subscribed to senior and mezzanine securities issued by the securitisation. Around 10% of the operation (€50m) will be covered by the Investment Plan for Europe guarantee.

The final amount available will enable up to 100% of new investments and projects to be financed, with a maximum of €12.5m for each leasing operation. Projects may include the purchase of plant, equipment, motor vehicles, machinery, existing or new buildings, cars and other vehicles for professional purposes. 8,000 Italian businesses are expected to benefit from these new resources.

In other news…

Green ABCP issuance debuts
Crédit Agricole has placed the first green issuance of LMA, its European ABCP programme, for an amount of €25m. The issuance is believed to be the first ABCP refinancing of trade receivables contributing to the energy and environmental transition; in particular, to the renewable energy, energy efficiency, clean mobility and waste and water management sectors.

The placement is the first in a series of ‘green’ issuances planned by LMA and follows issuances via the bank’s US programmes, which were backed by financing for electric vehicles. The underlying assets comply with the eligibility criteria defined in Crédit Agricole Group's Green Bond Framework, which benefits from a second opinion from Vigéo Eiris, and with its corporate social responsibility policy.

North America
Oliver Wriedt has added managing partner at HighKey Capital in New York to his roster of responsibilities, having last month been named a strategic advisor to SCIO Capital (SCI 17 September). He was previously ceo of DFG Investment Advisers and, before that, co-ceo of CIFC Asset Management.

Agnel Sugumar has joined Investcorp as a director, structured credit and capital markets, based in New York. He was previously a director in LibreMax Capital’s structured credit and tactical opportunities team, prior to which he was a senior associate at JC Flowers & Co.

SFR acquisition
Pretium and a group of its investors and funds managed by the real estate equity and alternative credit strategies of Ares Management Corporation have formed a strategic partnership to acquire Front Yard Residential Corporation, a provider of single-family rental (SFR) housing. The all-cash transaction values Front Yard at US$2.4bn and demonstrates investors' increasing demand for SFR assets, as well as the investment opportunities available to operators - such as Pretium and its Progress Residential platform - that possess the requisite scale to drive margins. Pretium led the transaction and will manage the venture following closing. Upon completion of the transaction, which is expected in 1Q21, Pretium will become the second-largest owner and operator of SFR properties in the US, with a portfolio of more than 55,000 cash-flowing single-family rentals. 

Structured Finance

Aviation leasing platform prepped

Sector developments and company hires

Aviation leasing platform prepped
PIMCO and GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) have reached a preliminary agreement to develop an aviation leasing platform to support up to US$3bn in aircraft asset financings, subject to customary closing conditions. This strategic investment platform will enable GECAS and PIMCO-advised accounts to acquire new and young fuel-efficient aircraft.

The portfolio will initially focus on narrowbody aircraft, while allowing flexibility to invest in attractive opportunities in the widebody market. PIMCO and GECAS will consider a range of investment criteria, including an airline’s assets and credit quality and geographic factors.

GECAS will source transactions for the platform, act as servicer and provide asset management services.

Digital market initiative launched
Paris-based NowCP and Luxembourg-based securitisation vehicle european primary placement facility (eppf) have launched a new strategic cooperation designed to provide issuers with the full value chain of financial instruments, from commercial paper to long-dated bonds, in a fully automated manner. The initiative aims to transform fragmented OTC markets into transparent and resilient digital markets at the European level, drawing directly on the Capital Markets Union action plan and objectives.

GSE Patch extended
The CFPB has issued a final rule to extend the GSE Patch until the mandatory compliance date of a final rule amending the General Qualified Mortgage (QM) loan definition in Regulation Z. The GSE Patch was scheduled to expire on 10 January 2021 (SCI passim). The bureau is currently developing a final rule amending the General QM loan definition and is planning to issue it at a later date.

Structured Finance

Environmental risk score rolled out

Sector developments and company hires

CMBS environmental risk score rolled out
Trepp has implemented a new data integration with Risk Management Solutions (RMS) that aims to help evaluate and manage global risk from natural and man-made catastrophes. The solution provides an environmental risk score for properties backing CMBS loans, ranging from one to five, that measure the likelihood of property damage and business interruption from earthquakes, flooding, wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, hail, winter storms and thunderstorms.

Using RMS property loss and business interruption data, Trepp has identified the geographic distribution of risks across properties backing CMBS loans. California tops the list in terms of the number of high-risk properties. Other major states with large counts are those near low-lying or coastal areas with histories of large hurricanes or environmental events. Accordingly, Florida, Texas and Louisiana round out the top four.

In other news…

Acquisition
Sun Life Financial intends to acquire a 51% interest in Crescent Capital Group for up to US$338m, consisting of an upfront payment of US$276m and a future payment of up to US$62m based on the achievement of certain milestones. The transaction is expected to close in late 2020.

Crescent’s equity holders will retain carried interests in existing funds, along with certain assets. The transaction has a put/call option, which will allow the transfer of remaining interests approximately five years from closing.

Crescent will operate independently under its current leadership.

AMR CLOs tallied
HalseyPoint CLO 3, which priced on 21 October, marks the tenth US CLO with AMR language printed to date. So far, over US$4.4bn of CLOs have closed with AMR language, according to KopenTech.

Fallbacks supplement, protocol launched
ISDA has launched the IBOR Fallbacks Supplement and IBOR Fallbacks Protocol, with the aim of reducing the systemic impact of the benchmark becoming unavailable while market participants continue to have exposure to that rate. The supplement will amend ISDA’s standard definitions for interest rate derivatives to incorporate robust fallbacks for derivatives linked to certain IBORs, with the changes coming into effect on 25 January 2021. From that date, all new cleared and non-cleared derivatives that reference the definitions will include the fallbacks.

The protocol will enable market participants to incorporate the revisions into their legacy non-cleared derivatives trades with other counterparties that choose to adhere to the protocol. The protocol is open for adherence from today (23 October) and will become effective on the same date as the supplement. At launch, 257 derivatives market participants had adhered to the protocol during the two-week pre-launch ‘escrow period’.

North America
Alcentra has appointed Chris Mulshine as head of US distribution and to its executive management committee. He will be based in New York and report to Dan Fabian, president and coo. Mulshine will define the company's long-term sales and marketing strategies in North America and lead the institutional business activities across all client segments in the US. He joins from the Lazard Private Capital Advisory team, where he was global head of private credit.

Spanish SME deal closed
The EIB has joined forces with the Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO) and PSA Financial Services Spain to support Spanish SMEs and mid-caps affected by the coronavirus crisis. To this end, the EIB and ICO have subscribed to several tranches of a securitisation originated by PSA Finance - dubbed Auto ABS Spanish Loans 2020-1 - accounting for €250m and €100m respectively. The EIB is carrying out this operation as part of the initiatives it launched in March as a rapid response to the crisis caused by the pandemic.