Reporting on audited financial statements among special-purpose trusts that issue asset-backed securities varies greatly, noted Deloitte & Touche LLP partner Marty Rosenblatt, speaking at Tuesday's American Securitization Forum gathering (see p. 3). In his analysis of 17 auto-loan ABS 10-Ks, Rosenblatt found almost no uniformity in reporting. Further, six trusts had no apparent auditor involvement at all. One trust - BMW Vehicle Owner Trust 2001-A - had no 10-K on file.
Because the Securities & Exchange Commission no longer issues no-action letters to ABS issuers outlining how to report financial statements, bodies overseeing the reporting of financials range from the administrator to the registrant to the servicer to the trustee.
"Although the survey was limited to auto-loan securitizers, I anticipate that similar diversity exists in all other classes, other than perhaps MBS, where the Uniform Single Attestation Program' report would be expected to be more common," said Rosenblatt.
Of the 17 trusts looked at by Rosenblatt, Nissan Auto Receivables Corp. II was the only that included audited financial statements conforming to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). DaimlerChrysler N.A. Holding's DCAT 2001-D and General Motors Acceptance Corp.'s CARAT 2001-1 and 2001-2 transactions included financials on a cash basis.
The filings for which Rosenblatt found to have no apparent auditor involvement included AmeriCredit Auto Receivables Trust 2001-A, Ford Auto Owner Trust 2001-B through 2001-E and Union Acceptance Corp.'s UACSC Owner Trust 2001-C. Additionally, BMW VOT 2001-A had no visible 10-K for which to report auditor involvement and three trusts - Capital One Auto Finance Trust 2001-A, MMCA Auto Owner Trust 2001-1, NationsCredit Grantor Trust 1997-2 - accountant reports could not be found within the 10-K filings.
Trusts that reported using Attestation opinion on management's assertion of compliance with relevant sections of the Pooling & Servicing Agreement included AmSouth Auto Receivables LLC and Banc One Auto Grantor Trust 1997-B. AmSouth Bancorp.'s filing was signed off upon by the registrant and Banc One's by the servicer.
One trust, Chase Manhattan Auto Owner Trust 2001-A used Opinion on internal control in relation to criteria issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission'. Household Auto Trust 2001-3 offered the Agreed-upon procedures report on comparison of servicer's certificates to the servicer's accounting records' form of accounting report.
"In connection with the new SEC requirements for signed certifications applicable to ABS issuers," Rosenblatt noted, "the approved form of certification calls for, among things, the following statement: I have disclosed to the registrant's certified public accountants all significant deficiencies relating to the servicer's compliance with the minimum servicing standards in accordance with a review conducted in compliance with the Uniform Single Attestation Program for Mortgage Bankers' or similar standard as set forth in the pooling and servicing agreement."
