Kaye Scholer Hosts SCI’s Marketplace Lending Securitization Conference

Kaye Scholer hosted Structured Credit Investor’s second-annual “Marketplace Lending Securitization Conference” in its New York office on Tuesday, June 28, 2016. The conference provided an in-depth examination of the burgeoning landscape for marketplace lending and brought together the most relevant investors, issuers, arrangers and service firms in the industry to discuss the most pressing topics affecting the sector. Kaye Scholer’s Finance Department chair Henry Morriello chaired the conference, and he and partner Lawton Camp participated as moderators across three panels.

Specific topics covered throughout the conference included:

• The investor view of marketplace loans and marketplace ABS and the evolution of investment strategies in the sector; 
• Financing options for buyers of marketplace loans, including warehouse lines of credit;
• The differentiation between marketplace lending platforms;
• A look at the emergence of mortgage/real estate marketplace lenders and the steps necessary for securitization of these types of loans; and
• A discussion of securitization transactions done to-date and key structural and economic considerations.

Morriello’s “Existing Transactions—Issuance and Structuring Considerations” panel discussed transactions in the sector to-date, with a particular focus on the structural and economic considerations related to such transactions. Morriello also moderated a “Financing” panel, which covered comparison of marketplace loans to other consumer assets; representations and warranties related to this asset class; how particular legal/regulatory risks should be handled in connection with a financing facility; the importance of true sale/non-consolidation objectives in structuring a facility; bank origination vs. platform origination models; and the importance of Backup Servicers. Camp’s “Platform Differentiation” panel specifically examined what differentiates marketplace lending platforms from online lenders and the different capital market strategies involved.