Eleftheriou as it revamps its London Securitisation ... - Commerzbank

Press release
18 October 2005
Commerzbank Corporates & Markets hires Eleftheriou as it revamps
its London Securitisation team
Commerzbank Corporates & Markets (CBCM) today announced the appointment of Michael Eleftheriou
as Senior Originator and Structurer within its European Securitisation team as part of the bank’s strategy
to re-launch its London-based securitisation activities.
Mr Eleftheriou will bring to CBCM valuable experience gained at Rabobank where he was previously a
Director and a member of its European securitisation team, playing an instrumental role in developing
Rabobank’s presence in the term markets. Prior to this, he was at Babock and Brown and has also
worked at Citigroup in their Structured Securitisation team. Mr Eleftheriou will report to Christopher
McMullen, Head of securitisation London, who joined CBCM in August from GE Capital where he was
previously a Managing Director New Product Initiatives and Insurance working on a wide variety of high
profile securitisation transactions.
In addition, Robert Jaeger will be transferring from Germany to join the London securitisation team as
Originator and Structurer. Mr Jaeger brings four years of experience with the Frankfurt-based CBCM
securitisation team.
CBCM’s re-launch of the securitisation team in London will complement the well-established Frankfurt-
based CBCM securitisation team, thus enabling the bank to target the individual needs of its different
client bases.
The London team headed by Christopher McMullen (ABS) and Bill Wood (Conduit) will concentrate on
creating tailor-made client solutions for selected sectors including insurance, commercial mortgages,
infrastructure assets, collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) and future receivables. They will also pursue
opportunities arising from using securitisation as part of acquisition financing or refinancing leveraged
debt.
McMullen commented: “I believe there is significant potential in this market for a specialist securitisation
team. Developments including Basel II, accounting and regulatory changes and the continuing
Commerzbank AG is regulated by the FSA for the conduct of investment business in the UK. Member of the London Stock
Exchange

convergence of insurance and the capital markets will require a team with in-depth industry and product
knowledge. The arrival of Michael and Robert strengthens CBCM’s ability to provide the support that our
clients demand.”
The Frankfurt team, headed by Nicolaus Trautwein and Juergen Mahler, is well established as a leader
in the German securitsation market. It will continue to hone its expertise in Conduit and term ABS
transactions in Germany for its financial services clients, and in developing and engineering innovative
capital market products for the Mittelstand, leveraging Commerzbank’s strong network of corporate
relationships in its home market.
Among the initiatives launched by CBCM’s Frankfurt team earlier this year is the first platform to securitise
borrower notes (Schuldscheine) for the Mittlestand. The Schuldschein initiative provided a leading-edge
source of funding for SMEs and created an innovative and transparent new type of SME Asset Backed
Securities (ABS) transaction for investors. In this programme, Commerzbank pools the two to five-year
funding needs - between Eur0.5m and Eur5m - of various SMEs across different industries into a single
well-diversified portfolio. CBCM is providing interim funding until sufficient securitisation volume is
generated and then ABS bonds will be issued via the capital markets to replace the interim funding of the
Schuldschein portfolio. After the first ABS structure – expected in the first months of 2006 – the next
Schuldschein portfolio will be accrued.
Commenting on the initiative Head of Corporate Finance Roman Schmidt said: “It is with these kind of
innovative solutions that we hope to drive home our experience in the market helping to keep CBCM at
the forefront of our customer’s minds. I am looking forward to our clients reaping the benefits of our
London team’s re-launch and believe that it will complement the work of our Germany-based team.”
For further information, please contact:
Christopher McMullen, Securitisation London +44 (0) 20 7653 7165
Bill Wood, Securitisation London +44 (0) 20 7469 3206
Juergen Mahler, Securitisation Frankfurt +49 (0) 69 136 27936
Nicolaus Trautwein, Securitisation Frankfurt +49 (0) 69 136 23971
Margarita Thiel, Corporate Communications +44 (0) 20 7653 7835
Commerzbank AG is regulated by the FSA for the conduct of investment business in the UK. Member of the London Stock
Exchange

Notes to Editors
Commerzbank Corporates and Markets (CBCM) is the integrated Corporate and Investment Banking
division of Commerzbank AG.
CBCM provides a broad range of Commercial and Investment Banking products to corporate and
institutional clients. The business incorporates capital markets activities in credit, equities, interest rates
and foreign exchange with a strong focus on derivatives and structured products.
As a division of one of Germany’s leading financial institutions and with the backing of a Eur447bn
balance sheet (30.06.05), CBCM provides clients with capital and debt raising solutions and access to a
broad range of investment and risk management products across all major asset classes.
Commerzbank AG is regulated by the FSA for the conduct of investment business in the UK. Member of the London Stock
Exchange