THE Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) said this week it had completed a $540m collateralised debt obligation (CDO) on the U.S market. RMB said the CDO – debt security backed by a pool of high-yield investments – had a 12-year final maturity, but with an eight year average life as it amortises down towards the end. ”Our motivation for the venture, aside from the fee income, was the opportunity to cut our teeth on structuring such complex facilities in the liquid US corporate bond market,” said RMB’s Gill Raine. RMB acted as both placement agent and collateral manager. US investment bank Morgan Stanley Dean Witter arranged and placed a senior tranche of debt comprising $380m of the notes which were awarded an AAA rating by Standard & Poor’s and Moodys. – Reuters