| Sicilian fishermen. Italy refinanced part of its social security fund with an asset-backed bond Specialists in US asset-backed bonds talk as if their market has reached the height of development. It's certainly a big market, with around $250 billion in issuance last year and an expectation of 5% to 10% growth in 2000. The staple diet is the refinancing of mortgages, credit card lending, auto loans and corporate loans. Information about the behaviour of the various types of collateral is available to the US's well-informed and experienced investors. As Phil Weingord, global co-head of asset finance at Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) says: "The strength of the US market stems from the diversity of asset types securitized and the diversity of issuers accessing the market. It is also significant that the motivations of issuers who access the asset-backed securities market varies. They include capital relief, balance sheet management, matched funding, improved liquidity and cost-effective funding. This leads to a broad issuer base which provides the market with a fair amount of stability and certainty that the level of issuance will continue." In contrast, Europeans are still working to create regularity of issuance and templates for securitizing the classic asset types. |
