ABS takes bridges, tunnels to Hong Kong

Looking back, 2004 was an excellent year for Asian securitization. Outside the traditional powerhouse Japan, both Singapore and Taiwan came to the fore, the cross border business from Korea saw a revival, and Hong Kong and Malaysia look set to provide arrangers with opportunities in 2005. On top of that, local investors finally began to fully embrace ABS paper, making the job of Asian issuers and arrangers easier going forward.

Even in a stand-out year, with a number of excellent deals, the choice for this award was relatively straight-