Speakers

Cheng Lee is an Executive Director in the Structured Finance Group at SMBC Nikko Securities America, where he focuses on securitization of various assets, including auto loans/leases, credit cards, data center financing, premium financing loans, unsecured consumer loans, stranded cost/storm recovery assets, bank loans, equipment loans/leases, tax liens, and rental fleets.

Cheng joined SMBC in August 2022 to develop its esoteric ABS origination platform, successfully winning mandates in auto dealer floorplans, data center financing, premium financing, unsecured consumer loans and utility tariffs.

Prior to joining SMBC, Cheng led the esoteric ABS structuring team at Citi for 15 years. His achievements included structuring the first ABS backed by unsecured consumer loans in 2013 (SLFT 2013-A), establishing Citi’s rate reduction bond securitization platform, and developing Citi’s senior secured lending business.

Cheng worked at Jefferies in its Structured Finance Group from 2003 to 2007, where he developed the company’s project finance, asset-based lending, and CLO origination businesses.

Cheng earned a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University and has his FINRA Series 7 and 63 certifications. He is fluent in English and Mandarin Chinese. Cheng has presented at several industry conferences, including SFVegas in 2024.