US regulation helps GLAS expand trust services offering

US regulation – NEW YORK and LONDON—March 1, 2017

Global Loan Agency Services Ltd., the UK parent of the global GLAS companies, today announced that it has now received its US regulatory approval.

The newly chartered GLAS Trust Company LLC will be regulated by the State of New Hampshire. Regulation as a trust company will allow GLAS to conduct its activities through its headquarters in London as well as internally in the US on such transactions which require the Trustee to be a state-chartered fiduciary under the Trust Indenture Act.

This is another milestone for GLAS and will allow it to further diversify its current product offering to operate in the traditional corporate trust market, which itself has gone through a period of consolidation. GLAS prides itself on being a commercially focused, responsive, willing participant and will look to work alongside its existing client base who operate in the bond space.

Mia Drennan, CEO of GLAS in London, said:

“This is a major achievement for our company; regulatory approval is not easy to obtain, and I am truly proud of what the team has achieved. We continue to see requests from our clients for these services, and I am pleased to say that we will now be able to provide. The formation of GLAS Trust is a pivotal moment for our business in the Americas and will continue to underline our plans to operate on a global platform.”

The firm opened its first US office, GLAS Americas in New York in 2016, charging industry veteran Daniel R. Fisher with expanding its presence in the region for loan agency services.

“We are extremely pleased to be able to offer our US clients the full range of administrative services as a qualified trustee through our new sister company in New Hampshire,” said Fisher, Executive Vice President of both GLAS Americas LLC and GLAS Trust Company LLC.

“As banks and other familiar providers shy away from corporate trust services and loan administration, it has created a demand for quality, independent 3rd party firms like ours to step in and take their place. This has been beneficial to the marketplace, as smaller providers are often more nimble, non-conflicted and better suited to the needs of the corporate bond and loan debt markets.”

Fisher anticipates that as US interest rates rise, there will be additional demand for debt administrators to handle increased volume of refinancing and distressed debt activity resulting from increased borrowing costs.

Beyond the US, Fisher expects underserved markets such as Latin America to see greater demand for GLAS’ global trustee and loan agency services in light of higher rates especially impacting those areas. GLAS is one of the few firms equipped to provide loan and trustee services in that region, and the new US trust company will play a major role in meeting demand there.

For more information please contact Mia Drennan (mia.drennan@glas.agency) or Dan Fisher (dan.fisher@glas.agency).