Dominion Bond Rating Service reports that it has appointed Tim Westlake to its Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities ratings team in Toronto.

Westlake joins DBRS from TD Securities’ Commercial Mortgage Operations conduit lending group, where he worked as lead underwriter from 2002. Prior to joining TD Securities, he was employed by GMAC Commercial Mortgage of Canada upon its arrival in the conduit lending market in Canada, structuring and underwriting conduit loans. At DBRS he will be responsible for covering Canadian and American CMBS transactions.

The rating agency says that Westlake’s real estate experience is comprehensive both from an asset specific basis, having spent several years in the sale of institutional grade real estate portfolios and from a debt capital perspective.

“We are delighted to have Tim in our CMBS group,” DBRS senior vice president Huston Loke said, in a release “His in-depth knowledge of CMBS and real estate lending will ensure that we continue to offer investors superior insight and analysis.”

Westlake received his MBA from the European University in Brussels. He is also a licensed realtor.