WISTERIA COURT

Wisteria Court’s Managing Partner and Founder, Jay Tom, began his investment banking career in Latin America in 1990, just at the end of the Latin American debt crisis and as companies and sovereigns from Latin America were once again able to raise capital internationally – pioneering the creation of the “Emerging Markets” asset class.

Jay has been a Latin America focused investment banker for 25 years raising capital for sovereigns, corporations and financial institutions from the global emerging markets. He has held several positions of leadership, structured more than $30 billion of financing transactions and has built business platforms across all fixed income products.  Prior to starting Wisteria Court, Jay  was Managing Director & Head of Debt Capital Markets for Standard Bank, Africa’s largest bank with a focus on global emerging markets. Jay was directly responsible for building the high yield, liability management, structured finance, securitization, project finance, private placements, local markets and loan businesses. Under Jay’s leadership, Standard Bank was the leading underwriter of Brazilian Eurobonds in 2003, leading underwriter of Brazilian cross-border local currency linked bonds in 2007 and leading liability management advisor in Latin America.

Prior to Standard Bank, Jay was a Director for Merrill Lynch responsible for building the capital markets business in Brazil from 1994 to 1999 and a Vice President for Citibank in the Emerging Markets Corporate Finance Division from 1990 to 1994, originating and structuring the inaugural Eurobonds from the leading Latin American corporations & banks.

Benchmark transactions include the first leveraged recap bond issued from Latin American, first project finance bond issued from the Philippines, first municipal bond from Latin America for the City of Rio de Janeiro, the first bank eurobond, the first bond for CVRD and the first securitization from the agriculture sector from Latin America for a Bunge company. Awards won include LatinFinance Corporate Liability Management Deal of the Year in 2008. Jay also has extensive experience working with Developmental Finance Institutions from around the world including IIC, OPIC, IFC, CIFI, FMO, CABEI, CAF and Proparco. Jay has important relationships with global banks, hedge funds, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and private equity funds.

Jay began his career in financial services as a CPA working for the Financial Service Audit Team at Coopers & Lybrand and SEC Reporting for PaineWebber International. Jay holds a MBA in International Business and Finance from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Jay is a CPA and holds Series 7, 24 and 63 licenses.