The Royal Bank of Scotland has hired David Morin from ABN Amro as a v.p. trading leveraged and non-leveraged loans. Morin, who is well known in the market for possessing strong credit skills and expertise in energy names, will report to Rob Gianni, and Art de Pena, co-heads of loan sales and trading. "He's very talented, very well liked in the market," a trader said about Morin, who is also expected to trade stressed credits. Morin was at ABN for two years, having joined from Morgan Stanley.
Morin did not return calls, though an RBS banker confirmed the hire. At ABN, Morin reported to Catherine Yelverton, managing director and global head of loan trading. Yelverton was traveling and could not be reached. An ABN spokesman confirmed Morin's departure, but declined comment on ABN's plans.
RBS has made a series of significant hires in the two years to build a loan platform in the U.S. Most recently, the firm hired Jeff Stuart as managing director and head of loan markets for the Americas (LMW, 7/23). Stuart was previously at Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi where he was head of structuring and marketing for syndications. Gianni was hired last fall from UBS alongside de Pena from Credit Suisse First Boston.
The strategy appears to be working. RBS landed the lead role alongside Bank of America for MGM Mirage's $6 billion loan backing the acquisition of Mandalay Resort Group. The deal launched in Vegas earlier this month and the banks have brought over $9 billion into the book. "By the standard of a BB credit, this is a total blow-out," said one banker.
Other leads include J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Bank of Scotland, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Commerzbank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., Wachovia Securities, Société Générale, US Bank and Merrill Lynch. Jim Murren, president, cfo and treasurer of MGM, said before the meeting, that the bank market has not been this strong in 20 years (LMW, 10/4).