For 2010, U.S. public ABS issuance reached $53.51 billion, according to preliminary figures from the ASR Scorecards database.
This figure dropped from 2009's figure of $92.95 billion. The decrease in public new-issue volume can be attributed to regulations that have prevented credit card issuers specifically from accessing the securitization market.
According to Barclays Capital analysts, the considerable drop in year-over-year issuance can be attributed mainly to a dearth of credit card securitizations, down 85%. This is a result of the loss of regulatory capital relief for bank issuers in mid-2009 as well as issuers'increased access to more attractive funding sources. Credit card issuance, Barclays analysts said, comprised just 7.1% of 2010 consumer ABS volume, decreasing from 33.5% last year.
Another trend over the last two years that Barclays analysts noted has been a move toward private/144A transactions. Such deals, they said, are gaining more of a share of the consumer ABS new-issue market in both dollar and percentage terms.
The previous "high water mark" for private/144A issuance was $41.2 billion in 2006. This represented roughly 17.3% of total volume. By contrast, $50.9 billion and $43.2 billion in private/144A offerings were priced in 2009 and 2010, comprising 38.8% and 46.6% of total volume, respectively.
However, the public ABS market was saved by the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) extension of its no-action position on the enforcement recommendations against ABS issuers that omit ratings disclosures in public offering documents required by Regulation AB. The SEC's move mitigated the risk of the public new-issue market freezing up as well as a wholesale move to more private/144A issuance, Barclays analysts said.
"Because of the extension, we believe the new-issue market will continue to churn out transactions in 2011, albeit at a pace behind that of the peak years of 2005-07," analysts wrote.
2010 Manager Rankings
In terms of public lead manager rankings, JPMorgan Securities claimed the lead for 2010 with a market share of 15.6% and $8.36 billion in public issuance, according to the preliminary results from ASR's database.
It retained its first-place lead from last year, although its market share dropped from 2009, when it had a 27.1% portion of the market and sold $25.17 billion.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch placed second in ASR's 2010 public manager rankings, selling $7.30 billion with a 13.6% market share. It rose from its fourth place rank over the same period last year. In 2009, the bank had an 11.8% market share and $10.95 billion in deal volume.
Barclays Capital placed third once again in the current year's rankings with $7.05 billion sold and a 13.2% market share, maintaining its rank from a year ago. Last year the bank was No. 3 with a market share of 14% and $12.99 billion sold.
Rounding out the top five were Deutsche Bank Securities and RBS Securities. Deutsche sold $6.53 billion, garnering a market share of 12.2% in 2010. It placed sixth last year and had a lower 8.2% market share, although it sold more at $7.59 billion.
RBS was No. 5 in 2010 with $6.32 sold and an 11.8% market share, ASR's database showed. It retained its spot from last year when it placed fifth with a 8.5% market share and $7.90 billion sold.
Citigroup Global Markets, BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse, Wells Fargo Securities, and Societe Generale Corporate and Investment Banking round out the top 10 in ASR's 2010 U.S. public manager rankings.
