Casimir Capital Ltd. has staffed up to try to take a bigger chunk of the Canadian securities business now that it has key approvals to do more trading and bigger deals.
Casimir, an affiliate of New York's Casimir Capital LP, has carved out an interesting niche in the resource finance business with some different structures, and, in recent weeks, has garnered a dealer membership in the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada and on the TSX.
Casimir has had a presence in Canada, operating as an exempt market dealer (EMD), which gave it the ability to do a more limited range of transactions for clients. EMDs are only able to do transactions that do not use a prospectus.
The firm has a bag of tricks that goes beyond the traditional equity finance role of a boutique resources bank, including debt and structures that allow companies with production to presell their commodities to raise financing.
As Casimir has grown, the Toronto office has stocked up on staff at the expense of M Partners.
Riley Keast and Branden Keast joined as bankers. In sales and trading, Steve Sandusky, Trumbull Fisher, and Jeff Stevens came over, as did Lee Bowles.
Adam Thomas joined about six months in Calgary as Casimir's oil and gas banker. Mr. Thomas has worked on the buy side as well as on the sell side at Clarus Securities.