The group will focus on ABS opportunities across the infrastructure, energy, project and commodity sectors.
It is no surprise that BNP Paribas has made this move given its strong project finance franchise. Global head of securitization Tim Drayson has been looking to exploit the synergies between the two franchises for some time. “There is now a desire to look at real financial alternatives for infrastructure,” he told Euromoney in June this year. “Securitization can tranche the risks and makes judicious use of monolines and the CDS market in the trades.”
The specialized product group will be co-headed by Paul Chivers in London and Olivier Baratier in New York. Chivers joins BNP Paribas from Deutsche Bank. Two additional hires have been made: Bertrand Loubieres from Morgan Stanley and Mark Wells from Depfa. Riccardo Erenstein has transferred from BNP Paribas’ principal finance team.