France’s Natixis is planning to set up a Pfandbriefbank and has applied to German financial supervisory authority BaFin for a licence to do so, with ex-vdp president Henning Rasche set to co-head the new issuer.

The Pfandbrief issuer will be called Natixis Pfandbriefbank and will be 100% owned by Natixis SA, according to a press release announcing the plans today (Thursday).

The issuer will focus on commercial mortgage lending, in particular to clients in France and Germany. The cover pool-eligible business is set to be refinanced via the issuance of mortgage backed Pfandbriefe.

Designated to head the bank are Henning Rasche, former president of the Association of German Pfandbrief Banks and Eurohypo board member, and Ralf Wittenbrink, who has worked at IKB, HSH Nordbank and Westhyp.

Natixis is a 72.3% subsidiary of BPCE, which has an SFH issuing obligations à l’habitat, and Compagnie de Financement Foncier also a member of the group.

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