Nomura Securities International in London has hired Christian Marx, formerly head of collateralized debt obligation structuring for Europe at Morgan Stanley in London, to head its CDO group, a newly created position. Tariq Rafique, managing director and head of the securitization and asset finance group and to whom Marx will report, says Marx's hire adds some "additional horse power" to Nomura's CDO capability. "Our goal is to be a significant player," he says. Currently, Nomura has five people dedicated to its CDO business, and that number will increase as the business grows, adds Rafique.
Nomura was the lead manager for Shinsei Funding Two, a ¥60 billion CLO, which closed last month. The Shinsei deal was the firm's first CDO. Going forward, Rafique says Nomura will focus primarily on European assets, but will look at Japanese and U.S. assets as well, with the help of its teams in New York and Tokyo. He declined to say how many CDO deals the firm was working on, but said there are a few in the pipeline.