GEORGE TOWN, Grand Cayman, Dec. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- The Walkers group's
Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) service provider, Walkers SPV Limited,
announced the completion of its senior management team with the appointment of
David Lloyd as Senior Vice President. Mr. Lloyd, who will begin work with
Walkers SPV in January 2009, is a qualified English lawyer with significant
experience in the investment banking industry, most recently with Citigroup.
His appointment represents the final stage in building Walkers SPV's new
upper-management structure and provides clients with access to a team whose
level of experience, qualifications, and know-how is unmatched in the
industry.
"Our approach has been to build a team with people who can add value and
have a wide knowledge of transactions so that we can advise our clients
-- leading financial institutions and global companies -- on alternatives for
structuring transactions and ways for them to overcome any difficulties," said
Nancy Lewis, Chief Executive Officer of Walkers Global Holdings Limited.
The experience of the Walkers SPV Senior Management Team is important at
such a crucial time for the structured finance industry. In many cases Walkers
SPV's clients are looking to restructure complex securitisation transactions
or launch new deals in more trying market conditions, so are greatly in need
of the advice and guidance that such experienced professional industry expert
directors can provide.
Mr. Lloyd joins Senior Vice President Richard Ruffer, a securitisation
specialist and former New York investment banker and tax attorney with
additional experience in the rating agency arena; Senior Vice President
Alasdair Foster, a former English barrister and investment banker with
JPMorgan in London; and Rachael Rankin, Senior Vice President and admitted
Cayman Islands attorney, with an in-depth knowledge of the local legal
environment and considerable experience on the administration side. The upper
management team is supported by a strong complement of university-educated
Caymanians within the firm.
"It is important to speak the same technical language as the investment
bankers, collateral managers, and onshore lawyers that are our clients so we
can ensure we are all on the same plane," Mr. Ruffer said. "When we raise an
issue we can also propose a solution. No one minds issues when they come along
with practical solutions."
Before joining Walkers SPV, Mr. Lloyd worked for a number of investment
banks including Credit Suisse, BNP Paribas, and Citigroup, where he was a
director on the structured products desk. He brings great expertise in all
areas of structured finance including issuance vehicles, product wrappers and
structured products for institutional and retail investors. With a LLB law
degree from the University of Wales, Mr. Lloyd qualified at the Inns of Court
School of Law and was called to the Bar of England & Wales in 2006. A
fellowship member of the International Bar Association, Mr. Lloyd holds a
number of qualifications with the Securities Institute.
A veteran of Wall Street, Richard Ruffer joined Walkers SPV earlier this
year, moving to the Cayman Islands from Institutional Credit Partners (ICP), a
specialist fixed income investment firm in New York, where he was Head of
Investment Structuring for Commercial Real Estate and Associate Portfolio
Manager for the firm's commercial real estate debt portfolio. Prior to ICP,
Mr. Ruffer spent ten years with Bear Stearns, becoming a Senior Managing
Director specialising in commercial mortgage securitisation and commercial
real estate CDOs. After graduating law school in 1990, Mr. Ruffer practiced as
a tax attorney in New York with Brown & Wood and Rogers & Wells where he
specialised in structured finance. He also gained rating agency experience as
a Senior Analyst at Moody's Investor Service. Rating numerous transactions
with the agency over three years, Mr. Ruffer chaired the committee that set
credit enhancement levels for all US residential mortgage securitisations.
Walkers WPV Senior Vice President Alasdair Foster has a particularly
impressive range of qualifications. He worked with JPMorgan in London on the
Structured Credit and Securitised Products Syndicate Desk. This investment
banking experience gives Mr. Foster the ability to understand transactions
from the perspective of issuers and investors as well as lawyers. His three
years spent on a fixed income trading floor provides an in-depth knowledge of
the underlying collateral that deals are secured upon. A background of legal
practice, with more than five years of specialist legal experience primarily
in the field of commercial litigation, affords him the means to effective
interaction with onshore and offshore counsel in terms of providing
constructive advice both at the start of a new deal and during the life of a
transaction. Mr. Foster holds an MA in Jurisprudence from Oxford University
and gained an MBA from the Judge Business School at Cambridge University.
"My legal experience has equipped me to delve into the often voluminous
transaction documents and establish what needs to happen when novel issues or
unexpected events occur," Mr. Foster said. "The combination of market, legal,
and offshore experience puts me in a powerful position to look at a
transaction from multiple perspectives when offering clients advice."
While the majority of the Walkers SPV senior management team's background
has been in the major financial capitals of the world, such as New York and
London, Senior Vice President Rachael Rankin's local Cayman knowledge ensures
that clients receive the best possible attention with regard to the provision
of director, trustee and related administration services for special purpose
vehicles. Ms. Rankin has been with the Walkers group for four years and has
wide-ranging experience in all realms of structured finance transactions,
including CDOs, securitisations, asset financing and MTN programmes.
Previously employed by Deutsche Bank (Cayman) Limited as a Senior Corporate
Officer, Ms. Rankin holds a Certificate in Offshore Finance and Administration
from the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators. She also
earned an LLB (Hons) degree from the University of Liverpool, obtained her
professional practice qualification with distinction from the Legal Advisory
Council in the Cayman Islands, and was admitted to practice as a Cayman
Islands attorney in 2007, having trained in the Corporate, Litigation, Trusts
and Real Estate departments of Walkers.
"As the financial services industry in the Cayman Islands continues to
face increasing levels of scrutiny and the actions and duties of directors are
regularly being examined, the skill sets and knowledge base of a qualified
Cayman Islands attorney increases the confidence in and credibility of the
Trust Group," Ms. Rankin said. "As the potential for litigation increases, the
ability for directors to be familiar with the laws under which they are bound
will prove ever important."
Walkers SPV's presence on the most prominent deals around the world
presents the best possible perspective of business sentiment, the benefits of
which flow through to clients. Walkers SPV clients are assured of receiving
the right advice and transactional guidance at a time when the future of an
organization can hinge on good decisions.
"The new management structure has received an overwhelmingly positive
response from our clients, many of whom are currently looking to restructure
complex transactions," Ms. Lewis said. "Our expertise is also being employed
on new deals and our professionals are able to impart advice on what we have
learned from the current market, which combines into an unrivalled service
offering."
About The Walkers Group
From offices in the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dubai, Hong
Kong, Jersey and London, the Walkers group provides legal and management
services to leading FORTUNE 100 and FTSE 100 global corporations and financial
institutions, capital markets participants, investment fund managers, and
growth- and middle-market companies.
The Walkers Group is comprised of leading offshore law firm, Walkers; fund
services provider, Walkers Fund Services Limited; and SPV and corporate
services providers, Walkers SPV Limited, Walkers (Jersey) Limited, and Walkers
(BVI) Limited.
In 2008, Walkers was named Offshore Law Firm of the Year by
Alpha/Institutional Investor Magazine. Walkers was also named the Who's Who
Legal Law Firm of the Year: Cayman Islands for 2006 and 2007. In 2006, Walkers
was named as The Lawyer's Offshore Law Firm of the Year, the PLC Which Lawyer?
Yearbook Leading Cayman Islands Law Firm and was one of two firms honored as
"Offshore Legal Team of the Year" by the Society of Trust and Estate
Practitioners (STEP).
For more information on the Walkers group, visit us on the web at
www.walkersglobal.com or contact us by e-mail at info@walkersglobal.com. To
contact Walkers by phone, call our Cayman Islands office at +345-949-0100.
