Contents

ABS

Low flying aircraft

Aircraft ABS remain slowest to recover from Covid

Aircraft lease ABS remains the black spot of the US ABS market, and has been the slowest to recover from the pandemic sell-off, note analysts.

While spreads in every other sector have now recovered from the pandemic sell-off, and, in fact are now trending at 24-month lows, the aircraft ABS market is still mired in the doldrums.

At the end of May 2021, there was $29bn outstanding in the aircraft ABS market

“We like to look at where spreads have traded over the past 24 months and right now most spreads are near the 24-month minimums, with the noticeable exception of aircraft,” says Theresa O’Neill, senior ABS strategist at Bank of America in New York.

Average aircraft ABS spreads are currently around 100bp wider than pre-Covid levels and over 200bp wider than the pre-Covid 24-month average.

The continued restrictions on travel, especially international travel, are clearly responsible for this disconnection.  While the number of flights has increased from the depths of April 2020, they are still much below pre-pandemic levels. European flights, for example, are 60% lower than they were before the global lockdown took effect.

Prices for aircraft ABS have also become much more widely dispersed than they were before the pandemic, according to FINRA, and this is expected to continue as tranches with exposure to different types of aircraft and airlines recover more slowly than others.

As a whole, the aircraft ABS sector is most heavily exposed to the narrow body B737 and A320 families of aircraft. These aeroplanes are generally used for short haul flights so ABS predominantly composed of this type collateral should recover more quickly that ABS composed of wide body collateral.

Overall, 35% of aircraft ABS deals are composed of B737 family collateral and 33% are composed of family A320 collateral. Only 12% are composed of the wide body A330 family and 5% of the wide body B777 family.

This should bode well for the market going forward. For example, the number of flights on a A320neo have increased 26.4% in the most recent seven day average compared to a 2020 low of down 82.9% with January 2020 indexed at zero. The number of flights on a B737 Original has decreased 21.4% compared to a 2020 low of down 63.4%.

However, the number of flights on wide body B777s is still down 40% compared to January 2020, some 30% higher than the lows, while the number of flights on wide body A330s is down almost 50% compared to the January 2020 low of down 86.4%.

So while the overall numbers are still from encouraging, narrow body flights are picking up better than wide body flights, and the spreads for relevant ABS trades will reflect this disparity. But there are other factors to consider. A wide body aircraft could be on lease from a very strong airline and the terms of the lease could be favourable, and this will affect ABS pricing as well.

“It’s not just the piece of metal, it’s other things that go into it as well. The quality of the airline needs to be considered. If it’s on lease to one of the larger, more financial secure airlines for five or more years, then you shouldn’t have to worry too much,” says O’Neill.

Despite the problems that continue to affect the sector, Bank of America expects that spreads in the aircraft ABS market will not take as long to recover as the aviation industry itself as passengers to begin to take to the air once more. The IATA predicts that air passenger numbers will not return to pre-pandemic numbers until 2023, but the ABS sector should return to pre-pandemic prices before then, suggests BoA.

Bank of America also recently updated its expected issuance in the aircraft sector in 2021 from $3bn to $6bn, in line with increased market share for aircraft lessors. Airlines are thought more likely to lease aircraft than buy as they shore up finances shattered by the effect of the pandemic and the global lockdown.

“The reason that the lessors will gain market share is related to the financial condition of the airlines. As the airlines look to recover from all that they have been through, they will prefer to lease rather than buy the aircraft outright,” says O’Neill.

Another structure said to be in vogue are sale leasebacks, where the airlines sell the aeroplanes to the lessor and then lease them back.

It has been a busy week in the US ABS sector so far, with 10 deals worth $8.5bn priced across sectors by the close on Thursday and another couple expected to come before the close on Friday.

Overall ABS spreads remain range-bound, but levels in the student loan market could improve more than most due to strong fundamentals and positive market tone, suggests O'Neill.

Simon Boughey

Structured Finance

SCI Start the Week - 7 June

A review of securitisation activity over the past seven days

Last week's stories
Canuck rumours
Canadian banks said to be circling CRT
Capital cushions
Buoyant CET1 levels explain CRT reluctance
Domi debut
Domivest transaction attracts strong investor appetite
FHFA under fire
Arch takes aim at FHFA report on GSE CRT
New moves
Angel Oak Capital discusses its issuance of the first US non-agency social bond securitisation
Pandemic hedges
CRT solutions for pandemic events mulled
Positive prospects
Italian NPL ABS growth pending
Private debt investors doubt ability to handle defaults in post-pandemic downturn
Contributed thought leadership by Ocorian
Revised expectations
Italian NPL business plans underperform
Italian NPL transaction collections are largely underperforming expectations, partly due to the impact of the pandemic, according to the latest data. Some 21 Italian NPL securitisation servicers have updated their business plan at least once and only two servicers have revised their latest gross collection expectations upwards, while ten trades have been downgraded due to a combination of Covid-related factors, say reports.

According to DBRS Morningstar, coronavirus-related drivers include the slowdown in judicial activity resulting from the implementation of extraordinary measures imposed by local governments to contain the effects the pandemic, such as court closures and temporary suspension of the foreclosure actions against residential assets. These have caused delays in legal procedures and disruption to servicers' judicial strategies resulting in longer time-to-recovery compared to initial expectations.

Alternatives such as amicable settlements and sales of exposures to third parties exist and they were initially envisaged in the business plan. However, DBRS Morningstar states that these collection strategies are sometimes executed with lower than initially expected proceeds, offsetting the faster realisation of recoveries. Ultimately, the current uncertainty concerning the duration of the crisis and the expectations that it might continue throughout 2021 explains more conservative views on real estate liquidity and recovery timing.

"The expectation is that the actual impacts of the pandemic in terms of expected recoveries will more likely be reflected by the servicers in their updated business plans that are due to be issued later in 2021 and 2022, once it is possible to better assess the actual effect of the crisis on the local economy'' says the rating agency.

The DBRS Morningstar analysis considered a number of transaction features such as borrower type, portfolio granularity, the secured composition of the pool, the nature of the real estate collateral, weighted-average portfolio vintage, geographical concentration, performance data, and servicing framework.

The analysis and the considerations it takes into account point to the fact that a certain degree of correlation can be identified between reductions in recovery expectations and factors such as transaction performance, the type of real estate collateral, and actual workout strategy implemented to date.

Stelios Papadopoulos

Data

Recent research to download
Synthetic Excess Spread - May 2021
TCBI Deal Profile - May 2021
CLO Case Study - Spring 2021

Upcoming events
SCI's 1st Annual CLO Special Opportunities Seminar
29 June 2021, Virtual Event
SCI's 3rd Annual NPL Securitisation Seminar
September 2021, Virtual Event
SCI's 7th Capital Relief Trades Seminar
13 October 2021, In Person Event

Capital Relief Trades

Rebound continues

Second trade finance SRT inked

Standard Chartered has completed a US$128m CLN that references a portfolio of trade finance exposures. Dubbed Shangren Five, the transaction is the second post-Covid trade finance significant risk transfer trade, implying that the asset class is rebounding.

Credit Agricole reopened the capital relief trade market for trade finance loans in April with Marco Polo Three. The five-year US$182m mezzanine guarantee referenced a US$4bn portfolio of over 1,300 emerging market trade finance exposures (SCI 28 April). Meanwhile, Shangren Five marks Standard Chartered’s return to trade finance, following a near three-year hiatus.

The bank’s last trade finance deal, called Sealane Four, was executed in November 2018 (SCI 14 November 2018). The investor in the transaction was not disclosed - although it is believed to be PGGM, given that the Dutch pension fund has been a long-standing investor in the programme.       

Short-term trade finance products enable deferred payment over a period of less than one year - usually less than 180 days - and are the most common form of trade finance. But they are especially vulnerable during periods of uncertainty, leading to increased prices and reduced overall availability.

Little data is publicly available for short-term trade finance, which comes in numerous forms, such as intra-firm financing, letters of credit and performance bonds. In past crises, and more notably during the 2007-2009 recession, short-term trade finance declined sharply due to pressures on private institutions’ liquidity, leading to elevated costs. However, according to the OECD, commercial banks’ liquidity does not appear to be a problem in the wake of Covid-19, following 10 years of tighter regulation and higher capital buffers.

Stelios Papadopoulos

Capital Relief Trades

Positive prospects

Rating upgrades boost default outlook

The number of ‘weakest links’ – issuers rated single-B-minus or lower with negative outlooks or ratings on credit watch with negative implications – decreased to 353 as of 30 April 2021 and is nearing pre-pandemic levels of 282, according to a new report from S&P. Indeed, accommodative financing and an economic recovery contributed to an increase in positive rating actions in April, especially for speculative-grade issuers.

S&P says that so far in 2021 the number of speculative-grade upgrades has been more than a third higher than the number of downgrades as sectors begin to recover from last year’s downward pressure. However, “the number of upgrades so far in 2021 is only a small fraction of the total number of downgrades in 2020. Credit ratings overall are structurally lower than pre-pandemic ratings, reflecting relatively higher debt burdens.’’

The rating agency notes that the oil and gas sector – which has historically held a large percentage of weakest links – saw the greatest decline in weakest links; reducing by nearly one-third between April 2020 and April 2021. Oil and gas issuers faced immense pressures from the pandemic-driven recession, however, those issuers are beginning to witness positive rating changes thanks to the stabilisation in oil prices.

Similarly, in Europe – where the bulk of capital relief trades are issued – corporate rating trends have improved dramatically since the height of the coronavirus crisis last year, when downgrades reached a high of 149 in 2Q20. The number of European corporate downgrades dropped to just 22 in 1Q21 from 43 in 4Q20, while upgrades rose from 15 to 21. Additionally, eight companies defaulted in the first quarter compared to a peak of 13 in 3Q20 and 4Q20, but that is still above pre-pandemic levels.

Nevertheless, despite an increase in positive rating actions this year, S&P qualifies that the “persistently high number of weakest links supports our expectation for continued higher defaults, especially for sectors most affected by measures enacted to curb the spread of Covid-19.”

Stelios Papadopoulos

Capital Relief Trades

Risk transfer round-up - 7 June

CRT sector developments and deal news

Santander is rumoured to be readying a significant risk transfer deal referencing Portuguese corporate and SME loans. The transaction would be the lender’s first post-Covid Portuguese SME capital relief trade. The last one, dubbed Syntotta, was finalised in June 2019 (see SCI’s capital relief trades database).  

Insurance-linked securities

Arch markets MILN

Second Bellemeade deal of 2021 in the market, pricing soon

Arch is currently in the market its second mortgage insurance-linked note (MILN) of the year, and the trade is expected to price tomorrow or Friday, say sources.

The transaction, dubbed Bellemeade Re 2021-2, should close next week or the week after.

Overall deal size is expected to be around $500m, and it will consist of five tranches: the M-1A M-1B, M-1C, M2 and B1. The M-1A is usually the largest tranche in deals of this kind

As with the past four or five Arch MILN deals, this issue is paired with reinsurance, which is expected to be around $100m.

The borrower declined to comment on the trade until pricing, but sources close to it say that investor demand is as robust as seen for any MILN deal in the last five years or more. This would suggest that the market is back to where it was before the Covid 19 crisis hit.

There have been six MILNs priced this year from MGIC Corporation, Genworth, Arch , Radiant and National Mortgage Insurance Corporation. April proved an especially busy month with three trades from Radiant, Genworth and  National Mortgage Insurance Corporation.

Arch’s deal of the year was the five-tranche Bellemeade Re 2021-1 priced in March. The six-tranche deal came in at $500m and was the first Bellemeade trade to be priced against SOFR, rather than Libor.

Originally, this deal also incorporated a $80m unrated B-2 tranche but this was dropped. An additional $64m of reinsurance was secured alongside that trade.

Arch issued four Bellemeade deals in 2020, including the re-opening of the sector in June after the Covid shutdown.

Simon Boughey

Structured Finance

Euro CLOs could still soften

Sector developments and company hires

Euro CLOs could still soften
European CLO new issue triple-A spreads are now out to 87bp-88bp from their post-Covid tights of 79bp-80bp. While there appears to be considerable support at current levels, technicals could yet push them to the low-90s, according to Bank of America European CLO research analysts.

Offsetting factors currently at play include broader credit market direction, rates moves and volatility, the BofA analysts note. Notably, despite an increasingly strong global investor base at the top of the European CLO stack, they also cite reduced non-Euro CLO investor demand, currency rates and relative value over US dollar paper as other challenges.

“While the overall Japanese demand for European CLOs is difficult to quantify, we note how the cost of currency hedging investments in CLOs is changing because of recent rate and currency moves,” the analysts say. “From a Japanese perspective, the cross-currency swap basis is declining for both euros and dollars (therefore lowering the cost of hedging for both). However, it narrowed more versus US dollars and that might incentivise US paper purchases over euro ones.”

On a relative basis, the analysts continue to see European triple-As as more attractive for US investors, taking into account the benefits of both the Euribor floor and a negative euro/US cross-currency basis swap. However, they add: “The recent-month moves in rates (euro yields climbed more than US ones) has reduced the basis swap and the related benefits (from a US investor perspective) of hedging euro paper.”

Further, the analysts report: “The benefits of the Euribor floor can decline as European rates creep higher. Finally, the significant appreciation of the euro/US dollar spot rate over the last months might also negatively impact the unhedged demand for European paper.”

In other news…

Average CMBS loss severity ‘remains flat’
Just under US$2bn in US CMBS loans were resolved with a loss last year, compared to US$5.3bn in 2019, according to Fitch’s latest annual US CMBS Loss Study. Average loss severity for loans that were resolved with losses in 2020 was 55.5%, down slightly from 57.8% in 2019. However, the cumulative average loss severity for loans resolved with a loss remained flat at 47.1% in 2020 from 46.6% in 2019.

Loss severities among retail, hotel and multifamily properties were similar at 59.4%, 59.2% and 59% respectively. Hotel properties have reverted to the mean from 2019’s sharp spike (75.9%), and office and industrial losses have also decreased from 2019. Other property types (retail, multifamily and other) exhibited higher loss severities in 2020.

In all, US$7.8bn in loans were resolved in 2020, with US$5.9bn resolved with minimal to no losses. In comparison, only US$2.2bn were resolved with minimal to no losses in 2019. Many of these ‘no loss’ 2020 resolutions were returned to the master servicer after being modified or granted some type of consent or forbearance, as result of a request for relief from coronavirus-related disruption.

Capital reforms timeline released
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has released a letter to authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs) on the implementation of the capital framework reforms, which will come into effect from 1 January 2023. This letter follows the December 2020 consultation on the ADI capital framework, aimed at reinforcing the industry’s capital position and improving the flexibility of the framework to respond during periods of stress.

The letter sets out a clear timeline to finalise the consultation phase and to support the banking industry’s implementation of the reforms. The timeline covers key policy releases, reporting requirements, industry workshops and the process for capital model approvals.

Over the course of 2021, APRA intends to: conduct a targeted data study to assess potential changes to the calibration of the prudential standards; initiate regular workshops with the industry as the standards and guidance are finalised to provide a forum for updates and FAQs; and release final prudential standards, draft prudential practice guides (PPGs) and initial details of reporting requirements by the end of the year. Over the course of 2022, APRA intends to finalise the PPGs and reporting requirements, with a parallel run of capital reporting on the new framework occurring in late 2022.

EMEA
Charles Wakiwaka has joined McGuireWoods as partner in the firm’s securities and capital markets practice in London. Wakiwaka advises buy- and sell-side market participants on complex derivative and structured finance transactions. He joins McGuireWoods from Clifford Chance, where he was a senior derivatives lawyer.

Ocorian has appointed Mike Hughes as global head of service lines, with full responsibility for the group’s client segments. He will work collaboratively with the client teams to set the strategy and identify opportunities for growth across all of Ocorian’s service lines. Hughes joins Ocorian from JPMorgan, where he ran its US$30trn global custody business with a staff of more than 3,000 people covering services in 98 markets.

Green RMBS bond debuts
Kensington is in the market with the UK’s first green RMBS issuance. The Finsbury Square 2021-1 Green transaction is aligned with the ICMA Green Bond Principles of 2018 and contributes towards meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Only the senior tranche - class A-GREEN, which is sized at 85.25% of the deal – is labelled green. Proceeds will be used to purchase a specific pool of loans originated by Kensington designated as eligible green projects, which will have as a minimum standard an EPC ‘B’ rating. ISS ESG was appointed to provide an external review in the form of a second-party opinion on Kensington’s Green Bond Framework.

The transaction features a five-year revolving period, during which excess available principal over the class A target notional amount can be used to purchase additional eligible mortgages originated by Kensington. The deal also envisions a pre-funding element representing 24% of the total maximum issuance size available between closing and the first IPD in September 2021, for a potential maximum total transaction size of £750m.

The provisional collateral pool includes 57.5% owner-occupied and 42.5% buy-to-let mortgages, with an average loan size of £173,800 and average CLTV of 71.2% after nine months of seasoning. Sole arranger on the deal is BNP Paribas, which is joined by Lloyds and NAB as joint lead managers.

Private asset units combined
Schroders has united its specialist private assets investment capabilities under the newly launched Schroders Capital brand, with the aim of delivering an enhanced service for its clients. Schroders Capital will encompass the existing range of private equity, securitised products and asset-based finance, private debt, real estate, infrastructure, ILS and BlueOrchard.

The combined unit manages £46.1bn of assets on behalf of its clients. The firm says that each asset class within Schroders Capital will continue to maintain a high level of autonomy, while also benefiting from enhanced knowledge-sharing and collaboration with the other asset classes within the new brand and across the Schroders Group.

North America
Eagle Point Credit Management has appointed Nate Morse as head corporate trader, reporting to managing partner Thomas Majewski and principal and portfolio manager Dan Spinner. Morse will be responsible for all trading, other than CLO securities. Prior to joining Eagle Point, he spent five years as a credit trader at Aristeia Capital and has previously held credit trading roles at Jefferies, Citadel Securities and Citi.

Nishil Mehta has joined First Eagle Alternative Credit as md. He was previously md, head of capital markets and CLO portfolio manager at Prospect Capital Management, which he joined in May 2010. Before that, Mehta worked at CIT Asset Management and Wachovia.

Varagon Capital Partnershas named Suraj Panjwani md, business development and investor relations. He was previously md, alternatives consultant relations at Invesco, and has also worked at Chenavari Investment Managers, Och-Ziff Capital Management and BlackRock.

Structured Finance

NPL secondary market measures agreed

Sector developments and company hires

NPL secondary market measures agreed
The European Parliament and European Council have agreed on common EU standards regulating the transfer of non-performing loans from banks to secondary buyers while protecting borrowers’ rights. The measures are designed to foster the development of secondary markets for credit agreements originally issued by banks and qualified as non-performing, enabling third parties to purchase such loans across the EU.

Since credit purchasers are not creating new credit but buying existing NPLs at their own risk, they will not need special authorisation but will have to comply with borrower protection rules. However, credit servicers will be required to obtain authorisation and be subject to supervision by the member states’ competent authorities. Member states should also ensure that there is a publicly accessible up-to-date list or a national register of all credit servicers.

In order to protect consumers, all credit purchasers will be obliged to appoint a credit servicer for consumer portfolios. In addition, third country credit purchasers will have to appoint a credit servicer for SME portfolios to protect entrepreneurs.

Further, a uniform level of protection will be introduced for borrowers who cannot pay their debts, requiring credit purchasers and servicers to provide accurate information, protect borrowers’ privacy and refrain from any harassment or undue influence.

In advance of the first debt collection, a borrower will also have the right to be notified in a clear and understandable manner on paper or another durable medium concerning any transfer of a creditor’s rights. The information should include a date of transfer, identification, contact details and authorisation of a new credit servicer, as well as detailed information on the amounts due by the borrower. Additionally, the borrower should be informed where they can submit complaints.

Fees and penalties charged by servicers cannot change, as per the new directive, nor any additional costs be imposed. Furthermore, the contract and obligations between a credit servicer towards a credit purchaser should not be altered by the outsourcing of credit servicing.

Finally, a borrower’s individual circumstances should be taken into account, including mortgages linked to a residential property and their ability to repay a loan. Measures may include partial refinancing of a credit agreement, modifying the terms of the agreement and extending the terms of the loan.

In other news…

Direct lending platform acquired
Sound Point Capital Management has acquired the US direct lending platform of CVC Credit. As part of the agreement, Sound Point has hired a team of nine investment professionals from CVC Credit, who together manage a portfolio of approximately US$1bn of assets.

The nine-person CVC team is led by Tom Newberry, global head of private debt at CVC Credit, and David DeSantis, head of US private debt at CVC Credit. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

North America
Andrew Rippert has joined Aspen in the newly created role of evp - head of mortgage, reporting to Christian Dunleavy, chief underwriting officer of Aspen Reinsurance. He will also become a member of the firm’s reinsurance executive committee.

Rippert has over 20 years’ experience in shaping and building global mortgage insurance and reinsurance businesses and portfolios. He previously built and led Arch Capital’s mortgage credit business.

David Ryan has joined Barclays as director, CLO syndication, based in New York. He was previously director, head of US CLO syndication at Deutsche Bank, which he joined in January 2004.

RMBS provisioning mechanism enhanced
Finance Ireland Credit Solutions is in the market with its third Irish RMBS, Finance Ireland RMBS No. 3. In addition to loss-based provisioning, the STS transaction features a provisioning mechanism based on the arrears status of a loan, which increases with the number of months in arrears. Consequently, excess spread can be trapped earlier in the recovery process, which Rabobank credit analysts describe as “a clear positive”.

The securitisation is backed by a €292.35m provisional pool of 1,142 owner-occupied mortgage loans, with an average seasoning of 4.89 months and a weighted-average current indexed LTV of 72.65%. First-time buyers and self-employed borrowers account for 43.19% and 18.05% of the collateral respectively.

Classes A through F are being publicly offered. Pricing is expected next week.

BofA Securities is arranger on the deal and is joined by BNP Paribas, Citi and Standard Chartered as joint lead managers. The initial option holder is funds advised by M&G.

Structured Finance

Sustainable infrastructure exposure offered

Sector developments and company hires

Sustainable infrastructure exposure offered
Bayfront Infrastructure Management has priced an infrastructure ABS via Bayfront Infrastructure Capital II (BIC II), a wholly owned and newly incorporated distribution vehicle. The transaction is backed by a US$401.2m portfolio of 27 project and infrastructure loans, diversified across 13 countries and eight industry sub-sectors, with approximately 46% of the portfolio considered eligible sustainable assets.

The deal comprises five classes of investment grade rated notes totalling US$361.1m, including a dedicated US$120m senior sustainability tranche. The proceeds from these class A1SU notes will be fully allocated to a portfolio of eligible green and social assets that meets the eligibility criteria stated in Bayfront’s Sustainable Finance Framework.

Rated Aaa by Moody’s, the class A1 and A1SU notes printed at 125bp and 120bp respectively. Both tranches have a legal final maturity of 11 January 2044.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank participated in the transaction as an anchor investor. Bayfront intends to retain the preference shares in its capacity as sponsor and retention holder, while its subsidiary BIM Asset Management will act as collateral manager. Citi, ING and Standard Chartered were joint global coordinators, with ING as sole sustainability structuring advisor and Citi as sole structuring advisor.

Since inception in November 2019, Bayfront has executed Memoranda of Understanding with 22 partner banks active in the Asia-Pacific region relating to collaboration on the takeout mechanism for project and infrastructure loans.

In other news…

EMEA
Kawai Chung has joined Intriva Capital as md, based in London. Chung was previously a partner at ARA Venn, responsible for capital markets and financing activities related to its European lending businesses and loan portfolios. Before Venn, he worked in asset-backed finance and ABS/mortgage strategy at RBS.

Impact allocation disclosed
Seelaus Asset Management has received an allocation of US$50m from Boise-based Micron Technology. The allocation - to Seelaus' agency MBS impact investment strategy - will seek to positively support underserved communities and underrepresented groups by increasing access to home ownership. 

The strategy, known as Support Housing Equality (SHE), utilises US government-backed MBS to generate a competitive return, while addressing the lending gap in these communities by investing in programmes specifically designed to provide access to capital. The SHE strategy offers investors a high degree of customisation on impact objectives, including the ability to target a specific geography or demographic, and will allow Micron to support predominantly Black communities in the Washington DC, Northern Virginia, Maryland and San Francisco Bay Area.

The investment marks the fourth allocation from Micron, totaling US$300m, to support impact investment initiatives, following earlier investments to diversity and inclusion managers and impact focused programmes.

Mortgage eVault prepped
ICE Mortgage Technology is set to deploy an eVault solution for secure storage of digital mortgages and notes, based upon technology acquired from DocMagic. The eVault technology will be integrated into ICE’s mortgage closing platform, Encompass eClose. Both ICE and DocMagic are committed to delivering technology to increase eClosing adoption in the mortgage industry.

North America
Academy Securities has hired Paul Staples as director of CMBS sales and trading. Staples has over 25 years of experience in finance and investment-linked work, including as the head of CMBS credit trading at Citi. Most recently, he was a managing partner at Pinesong Capital Advisors.

Chimera Investment Corporation has appointed Kevin Chavers to its board. Chavers will serve as chair of the compensation committee and on the risk committee of the company’s board. He has over 34 years of experience across multiple roles in the real estate finance and mortgage industry, including as md of BlackRock in the global fixed income and securitised asset investment team until April 2021.

Miller has hired Erik Manning as head of ILS, reporting to Charlie Simpson, head of Bermuda for the firm. Manning will concentrate on developing ILS and other insurance risk-to-capital solutions for the benefit of Miller’s clients. He has over 20 years’ experience in the sector and joins from Peak Capital, where he was ceo.

Pagaya has named Theodore Douglas as svp, head of innovation US. He was previously md, global head of fixed income capital markets at IHS Markit, and has also worked at Amundi Pioneer, Koch Industries, State Street, BNP Paribas and Bankers Trust.