Hamburg Commercial Bank hires Alantra's Fabrizio Sicilia to head NPL financing

Hamburg Commercial Bank has hired Fabrizio Sicilia from Alantra as managing director and head of NPL financing, according to Alternative Credit Investor. He will be based in London and report to Bryant Lau, head of corporates international and specialty lending.

Alternative Credit Investor reports that he underwrote more than €200bn of non-performing exposure portfolios and led buy- and sell-side credit portfolio transactions. That figure measures portfolios underwritten through transactions, not capital under management. He previously worked at KPMG and Barclays.

At HCOB he is responsible for driving growth in the bank's NPL and granular asset-backed financing platforms. The Hamburg-based lender describes its business as tailor-made financing for German and European companies, with particular expertise in Germany-focused real estate lending and shipping.

Lau said: "As private credit continues to evolve, clients increasingly value financing partners that can provide certainty, expertise and consistent execution." He added that the bank intends to extend its approach "across a broader range of asset-backed opportunities."

The role sits on the financing side of the NPL market, lending against portfolios rather than holding them, which is the same purchase of origination capability this publication noted in September's hiring round. It also extends the asset-backed lending build-out that has dominated recent platform moves, including Benefit Street Partners' Encina transaction.