Nonprime lender Flagship Credit Acceptance LLC issued its first securitization today, a $109 million transaction. The four-tranche deal was rated by Standard & Poor’s and Kroll Bond Rating Agency.

Chadds Ford, Pa.-based Flagship plans to use the funds from the securitization to increase its liquidity position and further grow its auto finance business.

“We are delighted about this transaction,” said Michael Ritter,…

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Six months after being acquired by Blackstone, Exeter Finance Corp. has completed its first-ever securitization ― a $200 million transaction that was privately placed with investors.

The securitization consisted of four tranches, with DBRS ratings ranging from triple-A through double-B, and Standard & Poor’s ratings ranging from double-A through double-B. The weighted average coupon was 3.7%.

Wells Fargo Securities and Deutsche Bank Securities were lead managers on the…

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With six weeks to go before the launch of its Commercial Lending Services business, General Motors Financial has set some clear goals for the unit.

“It’s a de novo business, so it’ll progress slowly,” said GM Financial President and Chief Executive Dan Berce on a conference call with investors this morning. The ballpark estimate is 20% to 25% marketshare in two or three years ― a $5 billion-type number. “That’s something we’d like to shoot for,” he added.

GM’s commercial…

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Investment bank UBS has disbanded the group that manages auto- and consumer-loan backed securitizations, according to The Wall Street Journal today.

UBS will retain its real estate ABS unit.

Auto ABS volume has been on the rise this year. So far, $56.7 billion of vehicle loans and leases have been securitized, according to JPMorgan Securities. That compares with $54 billion for all…

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Auto financiers have tried since the credit crisis to differentiate subprime auto loans from subprime mortgages. Yet it appears our industry still has a ways to go.



An article in today’s Huffington Post takes a stab at the auto industry ― specifically, the buy-here, pay-here sector. Here’s how it starts:



“Auto loan financiers are beginning to adopt a practice…

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Porsche Financial Services issued its inaugural securitization last week ― a $518.5 million privately placed transaction that was “significantly oversubscribed,” according to sources, and priced tighter than anticipated.



PFS has been originating and servicing auto loans and leases since 1997. In last week’s deal, 70% of the cars and SUVs securing the retail installment contracts were new; 30% were used. The average credit score was 764, and the average outstanding loan balance was… Continue

Auto-backed securitizations have fared well since TALF reinvigorated the market in 2009. Steady performance and solid returns attracted investors to the auto ABS space, propping up volume and tightening spreads.



But “exotic” asset backed securities ― like those backed by timber harvests, timeshare revenue, and cellphone-tower leases ― may lure some of those investors away from the auto sector, The Wall Street Journal…

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The asset-backed securitization market is set for a $2.4 billion infusion of auto-backed issuance.



This week, three new securitizations are slated to come to market: an $819 million lease deal from Ford Credit, a $1 billion loan deal from American Honda Finance, and a $600 million rental car deal from Avis Budget Car Rental.



So far this year, auto-backed deals have comprised more than half of all ABS issuance — $47.5 billion of the total $80.7 billion, according to… Continue

After a two-year hiatus, Consumer Portfolio Services has returned to the asset-backed securities market with an $85.4 million transaction sold in a private offering. The deal marked CPS’s first securitization with a senior-subordinate structure in 17 years.



The receivables were originated in 2008. At the time, an institutional investor bought 95% of the notes, while CPS retained the remainder.



Standard & Poor’s rated the transaction.



CPS has $900 million of… Continue

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Issuers of auto loan-backed securitizations will likely have to adhere to the same risk-retention requirements as issuers of other asset classes — even subprime mortgage — said Michael Krimminger, deputy to the chairman for policy of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.



Krimminger’s comments came during a session at the American Securitization Forum’s annual conference last month, in response to a question from fellow panelist Lawrence Rubenstein, general counsel… Continue

Ford Motor Credit Co. snared the top spot among auto securitizers in 2009, as market volume ballooned from the deflated level of 2008.



Auto securitization volume, including floorplans and retail loans and leases, totaled $51.5 billion last year, compared with $34.6 billion in 2008 — a 49% increase, according to an analysis by Auto Finance News. Including fleet lease deals, volume would have topped out at $54 billion. As a point of reference, auto securitization volume hit $120… Continue

The asset-backed securitization market has been jumpstarted this year with a pair of deals backed by dealer floorplans and nonprime loans.



Captive Ford Motor Credit Co. issued $1.25 billion of floorplan loans this week, while nonprime lender Tidewater Finance issued a $106 million two-tranche deal.



Ford Credit’s securitization is backed by a guarantee from the Federal Reserve, as part of the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility. Tidewater’s issuance, meanwhile, is… Continue

TALF newcomers Hyundai Motor Finance Corp. and Chesapeake Funding LLC, a unit of PHH Corp., are getting set to issue auto-backed securitizations next week.



Hyundai’s $1.3 billion securitization, the captive’s first this year, will be backed by prime loans secured by new and used cars and light-duty trucks. Chesapeake’s issuance, meanwhile, will consist of $750 million worth of fleet leases.



Other financiers slated to return to the TALF market for the Sept. 3 round: Bank of… Continue

After reviewing 101 auto loan-backed securitizations, Fitch Ratings has isolated three as “Under Analysis,” which means that within 30 days they will either be affirmed, upgraded, downgraded, or placed on Rating Watch.

The three subject to a more in-depth review:

• Bank of America Auto Trust 2008-1
• Capital One Prime Auto Receivables Trust 2006-2
• JPMorgan Auto Receivables Trust 2008-A

Stay tuned for more info.

Ford Motor Credit, Huntington Bank, and Nissan Motor Acceptance are getting set to tap the securitization market with TALF offerings.



TALF, an acronym for the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility, is a Federal Reserve program meant to restore the flow of capital to the lending sector.



According to published reports, Ford Credit is readying $2.95 billion of bonds, and NMAC is preparing to sell a $1.3 billion package. The Ford deal size exceeds to total amount of auto… Continue

Moody’s Investors Service’s upgrade today of a single Chrysler Financial securitization tranche was overshadowed by its downgrade of eight other tranches.



Historically, auto securitization upgrades have far outpaced downgrades. Among prime auto securitization transactions rated by Fitch, upgrades outnumbered downgrades by eight to one last year. I have a hunch that rate will slow considerably this year.



In the downgraded Chrysler Financial tranches — in transactions… Continue

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Jr. announced a plan this morning that calls for the Treasury and the Federal Reserve to create a facility to finance issuance of non-mortgage asset-backed paper. The program is meant to get liquidity flowing back into the auto loan, student loan, and credit card markets.



The asset-backed market “essentially came to a halt in October,” Paulson said. “As a result, millions of Americans cannot find affordable financing for their basic credit needs,” he… Continue

Though losses in auto loan- and lease-backed securitizations have reached — or, in some cases, exceeded — their long-term averages, so far the rating agencies and investment banks are fairly comfortable with ABS performance.



Analysts at Standard & Poor’s and Citigroup, which both held conference calls on consumer ABS in the past few days, pointed to a number of reasons for the higher losses in the 2007 and 2008 pools. The obvious ones are the sagging economy and high gas prices,… Continue