Berenberg Buys USD 460 Mn of RBS Shipping Loans

Berenberg Hamburg-based banking firm Berenberg, together with a Japanese financial institution, has purchased around USD 460 million shipping performing loan portfolio from the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). The company informed that most of the loans purchased will go into the Berenberg Alternative Asset Fund in Luxembourg, while others have been transferred to selected third party investors. In late 2016, Berenberg bought a first RBS performing shipping loan portfolio of around USD 300 million for the same fund, giving conservative institutional investors the option of participating in a ship mortgage-backed loan portfolio. The private bank acts as an exclusive advisor to the fund and handles the day-to-day management of the loans. Were responsible for all of the borrowers bank business, and provide credit administration services, Philipp Wünschmann, Head of Shipping at Berenberg, said. The Royal Bank of Scotland, which is in the midst of a restructuring, is selling its shipping loans in an effort to exit the sector and return to profit after eight straight years of losses.