UBS Senior Banker Behind Novel Debt Swaps Is Said to Leave

(Bloomberg) — A senior banker at UBS Group AG best known for his role in pioneering debt-for-nature swaps has left the firm, according to people familiar with the matter.

Ramzi Issa, who had been global head of credit investor products structuring at Credit Suisse before being appointed head of global structured credit and sustainable credit products at UBS one year ago, is no longer working at the Swiss bank, said the people who asked not to be identified discussing the development before it’s made public.

A spokesperson for UBS declined to comment. Issa didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Issa was among a select group of former Credit Suisse bankers who made it into top roles at UBS after it acquired its troubled Swiss rival last year. Bloomberg reported in August that UBS is working to help raise funds for a $300 million debt swap for Barbados, marking its first foray into a market Issa helped build back in 2021.

Debt-for-nature swaps are intended to help developing economies refinance existing debt on better terms, and then put part of the savings toward nature conservation. The Barbados swap on which UBS is currently working will focus on funding climate-resilient infrastructure. 

Before its 2023 acquisition by UBS, Credit Suisse said it had arranged swaps to restructure about $2.3 billion of debt for governments spanning Belize to Ecuador. Those deals resulted in some $680 million of new financing dedicated to nature conservation, according to the bank.

Meanwhile, debt-for-nature swaps have emerged as a key financial instrument for promoting biodiversity. The market is now set to benefit from a plan by six nonprofits to construct a shared pipeline of deals that will be shaped by common standards, according to an announcement this week at the United Nations biennial biodiversity summit, COP16. They say such swaps could unlock up to $100 billion in climate and nature finance.

(Adds reference to COP16 agreement in final paragraph.)

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