SYDNEY: Lloyds Banking Group's Australian unit has exited the leveraged finance market in the country, a spokeswoman said, as the impact of the crisis in Europe spills over into other regions.
The move affects seven bankers and Lloyds would wind down its over A$1 billion ($993.45 million) plus leveraged finance lending book, with no plans to sell the assets on the secondary market.
"We are no longer underwriting leveraged finance in Australia," a spokeswoman for the bank in Australia said.
Last week, Lloyds said it sold A$1.7 billion in distressed property loans to Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs to free up capital, part of a larger retreat by European lenders from the Australian loan market.
Lloyds was looking to deploy the affected bankers within the group, the spokeswoman added.
Peter Moore, who headed the leveraged finance business has been named head of project finance and portfolio management.
Lloyds, through BOS International, continues to lend in the investment grade corporate market, as well as project finance and asset finance.
Elsewhere, banking sources said BNP Paribas had scaled down its Australian operations as part of cuts to its global corporate and investment banking division. Two bankers in its leveraged finance team including the head, and a senior relationship manager left two weeks ago, the sources said.
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