Ira Wagner, a senior managing director at Bear Stearns and a structured finance industry veteran, has been tapped to take over the Bond Market Association's collateralized debt obligation committee next year, according to Nadine Cancell, v.p. and assistant general counsel for the trade group. He was recently elected to vice chairman of the CDO committee and is being groomed for the top spot when the terms of the co-chairs expire at the end of the year. Currently, Jerry DeVito of Credit Suisse First Boston, Chris Ricciardi of Merrill Lynch and Janice Warne of Citigroup Global Markets share the top spot. From next year on, the committee will have one chairman. The committee was established last year to address issues of relevance to the growing CDO market and started off with three professionals in the top spot. The committee's most-notable achievement to date has been the establishment of an information hub for investors to access deal documentation, which had in the past been accessible only from the deal underwriters or a fragmented set of third-party vendors. The site was set up last year at www.cdolibrary.com and it intended to improve transparency and liquidity.
Bear Stearns' Wagner Tapped For Bond Group's Top CDO Spot