Fitch Ratings has hired a new chief for its Canadian operations and is expanding its focus on ratings in Canada, the rating agency says.

Fitch has named Charles Gamm as a senior director to head its Canada office. Gamm comes from Moody’s Investors Service, where he led its’ structured finance efforts in Canada. Prior to that, he worked at Citigroup in Toronto, Germany and London, with a focus on commercial real estate and CMBS.

Gamm will be based in Toronto, “and will focus on working with investors, issuers and arrangers to broaden Fitch’s involvement in rating major corporations and financial institutions as well as important structured finance sectors like asset-backed securities and asset-backed commercial paper,” Fitch says.

Fitch notes that it currently rates a variety of corporations and transactions in the Canadian market. “However, as the global credit markets recover, investors are demonstrating an increased interest in obtaining additional information and perspective from Fitch on a broader number of companies and transactions,” it adds.

Doug Murray, group managing director and global head of structured finance business development at Fitch, says, “Charles’ addition reflects Canada’s position as an extremely important player in the global capital markets and our commitment to increase Fitch’s presence in this region.”

IE