The Weston Group

Merchant & Investment banking Services

Merchant banking is divided into four divisions and includes private placements, mergers and acquisitions,leveraged finance, and local currency securitization.

Private Placements. Weston's access to emerging market institutional investors offers corporations and financial institutions access to the private placement markets as an alternative to traditional bank-sourced funding or public debt markets. The firm has placed substantial amounts of short- and medium-term debt and private equity on behalf of Latin American issuers with its network of investment clients in the US and the region.

Advisory Services. Weston has developed a pre-eminent advisory services business representing the interests of note holders and issuers involved in the restructuring of emerging market corporate debt. In addition to acting as a financial advisor to various noteholder committees, the firm has also taken an active role in arranging debt-for-debt and debt-for-equity swaps in order to facilitate the financial restructuring of emerging market corporations and financial institutions. The firm also maintains an active presence in the merger and acquisition business across Latin America.

Leveraged Finance. Weston has been involved in arranging private placements of collateralized senior debt for Latin American banks and companies and is experienced in structuring debt packages and financing management buy-outs. In 1992, Weston structured the first leveraged acquisition financing in the form of a securitization of bank shares denominated in Mexican Pesos. The firm is an active player in the structuring and arrangement of margin loans against emerging stock market local shares.

Local Currency Securitizations. The Weston Group arranges asset-backed financing in the form of securitizations of U.S. dollar and local currency receivables and financial assets. Since 1991, The Weston Group has introduced a number of market innovations including the first Latin American mortgaged-backed bond, the first asset-backed Eurobond guaranteed by a Latin American government agency, and the first and largest securitization of Mexican local currency treasury notes.

Capital Markets

Capital Markets is divided into two divisions, Fixed Income trading and local market prowess.

Fixed-Income Trading. Weston Capital Markets Inc. has historically traded globally in Mexican corporate and sovereign Eurobonds, convertible bonds, Brady bonds, derivatives, money market instruments, and other Latin American securities. As an investor driven firm, Weston professionals can usually cross order flow between clients to provide superior execution. The firm's clients encompass US institutional investors, Latin American corporations, and high-net-worth individuals.

Local Market Prowess. The Weston Group offers clients access to Mexican and South American markets. It has built extensive contacts throughout the Latin American financial community through years of trading activity. As one of the earliest and largest participants in the Mexican Bankers Acceptance market, Weston also offers access to the market for private-sector Mexican peso debt. The firm has a developed expertise in the US Dollar/Mexican peso foreign exchange market.

Derviative Restructuring

The Weston Group provides derivatives restructuring solutions to unwind or modify open positions to create hedge effectiveness where required;

Weston’s derivatives team of PhDs and Risk Management Executives reconstructs trading records, analyzes fund flow documentation and back-tests all margin calls, settlements, knock-outs, and re-sets. These investigations often uncover errors, or at worst, fraudulent intent on the part of the originating counterparties. These findings can then serve as the basis for an intensive public relations and litigation against the offending parties in order to force settlements.