Dublin firm Matheson acted as Irish legal and tax counsel and Irish listing agent in connection with the £129 million Small Business Origination Loan Trust 2016-1 DAC (SBOLT) securitisation of UK SME loans originated through Funding Circle’s online marketplace lending platform.

Funding Circle is the largest UK marketplace lending platform and has lent more than £1.2 billion through its US and European platforms to date.

The transaction, a first for Europe’s securitisation market, completed in May 2016 and highlights the position of Ireland as the location of choice for debt issuance and securitisation transactions.

The transaction was arranged by Deutsche Bank AG’s London branch and sponsored by KLS Diversified Asset Management LP. The SBOLT notes were listed on the Main Securities Market of theIrish Stock Exchange, and were rated by Moody’s and S&P.

Alan Keating, partner in Matheson’s structured finance and derivatives group, led the team advising on the transaction.

Mr Keating said: “We are delighted to have worked with KLS, Funding Circle and Deutsche Bank on this pioneering transaction, which began in 2014 with the establishment of the Irish loan origination platform.

“As the SBOLT deal involved a new asset class that had never been securitised in Europe prior to this deal, the transaction opens up the possibility of more deals coming to market to provide a critical source of alternative financing to European SMEs.

“Our involvement in this ground-breaking transaction demonstrates our international structured finance capability and our increasing involvement in the FinTech sector.”