BNPP forms infrastructure securitisation group

LONDON Nov 15 (Reuters) - BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA) said on Wednesday it has set up a group within its securitisation business to focus on infrastructure, energy, project and commodity deals.

The bank has hired Paul Chivers from Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) to run the group in London, while Olivier Baratier moves from BNPP's energy, commodities and project finance (ECEP) group to head up the team in New York.

In London, BNP Paribas has also hired Bertrand Loubieres from Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and Mark Wells from DEPFA DEPF.DE for the team, while Riccardo Eerenstein will move across from the bank's principal finance team. In New York, Baratier will be joined by Wilfried Marchand, also from the ECEP group. Infrastructure finance is a burgeoning area of the capital markets as investors are looking for assets with stable underlying cash flows that can then be financed through techniques such as securitisation.