In Brief: Bear Stearns Lends $300M to Cityscape

Cityscape Financial Corp. said it obtained a $300 million revolving loan from Bear, Stearns & Co. that will give the mortgage bank access to new funds to buy and originate loans.

Cityscape extends mortgage loans to homeowners in the United States and United Kingdom who would otherwise face difficulty securing credit.

Bear Stearns will warehouse Cityscape's loans until they are ready to be packaged into asset-backed bonds, said Robert Grosser, Cityscape's chief executive. The Bear Stearns loans will be pegged to the London interbank offered rate, he said.

Such arrangements free up capital for lenders such as Cityscape, allowing them to make more loans.

Bear Stearns has already started warehousing Cityscape loans under the agreement, Mr. Grosser said.

Moody's Investors Service cut Cityscape's credit ratings twice since the start of the year, increasing its costs of financing its business through corporate bonds.

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