BMO hires leveraged lender

Andy Willis has a great blog in The Globe & Mail. Here he is talking about how the wagons are beginning to circle:
BMO Capital Markets is getting ready for the return of private equity funds by hiring an experienced leveraged finance expert in its New York office.
Eric Luftig, a veteran of GE Capital Markers and CIBC World Markets, joined the U.S. investment banking arm of Bank of Montreal as a managing director. The Manhattan-based executive is now responsible for debt and equity private placements in BMO's leveraged finance group.
Bank of Montreal is one of several former mid-tier players in U.S. private equity to upgrade its talent at a time when most Wall Street firms are cutting head count. The credit crunch has trimmed the ranks of lenders to private equity funds, while improving the terms on which loans get made. That makes this sector far more attractive to Bank of Montreal and domestic rivals such as Royal Bank of Canada, which has also added expertise in this area.
“Eric's experience in private placements, including 20 years of solid deals, complements our team's overall mandate as we look to broaden our lead role participation in the leveraged financing arena,” said Jim Moglia, New York-based executive managing director and co-head of the BMO Capital Markets' leveraged finance group. This team deals in both leveraged loans and high yield bond financings.