Pooled funding for the Mittelstand

Schmidt: German economic pick-up should favour the scheme

Commerzbank Corporates and Markets is tackling the conundrum of how to finance the Mittelstand by setting up the first Schuldschein securitization programme. Commerzbank will pool the two- to five-year, €500,000 to €5 million funding needs of different small and middle-size German enterprises to create securitizable portfolios. It launched the origination phase on July 8, and expects the first ABS issues next year.

Schuldscheine have traditionally been used by larger corporates, but Commerzbank’s platform should make them a useful tool for SMEs that need funding in sums of less than €20 million.

So far, the popularity of issues from comparable platforms, such as HVB’s Preps, which pools mezzanine loans to European SMEs, suggests that Commerzbank should do well.