Marathon Asset Management is bidding on Signature Bank's $33 billion real estate loan portfolio, CEO Bruce Richards said this week to Bloomberg Television.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation put the portfolio up for sale earlier this month. About $15 billion of the CRE loans secured by multifamily residences are rent stabilized or rent controlled. 

As the agency said, one of its statutory obligations is "to maximize the preservation of the availability and affordability of residential real property for low- and moderate-income individuals." To that end, those buildings will go into "one or more joint ventures" in which the FDIC will hold a majority equity interest. "In addition, the JV operating agreement will provide certain requirements that facilitate the financial and physical preservation of these loans and underlying collateral."