Global development of asset-backed bonds

Western Europe is still the center of the asset-backed bond market, which exists in almost all countries.

From 2003 to 2007, the number of asset-backed bonds issued by the EU increased by 38%. By the end of 2007, the face value of circulation exceeded 2 trillion euros, of which 75% were Eurobonds and 86% were fixed interest rates. Generally, the term ranges from 2 years to 65,438+00 years, and it is a medium-and long-term fixed-rate bond. The issuance of asset-backed bonds in Europe is highly concentrated. In 2007, the annual circulation of financial institutions in Denmark, Germany, Spain, France and Britain exceeded 84% of the total.

Influenced by the global trend of asset securitization, after 2003, a new variety of structured asset-backed bonds appeared in European financial markets. Structured asset-backed bonds are not established in accordance with the established legal framework of the regulatory authorities, but are signed by issuers and investors to determine their respective rights, obligations, interest rates, term, etc. Structured products first appeared because some countries in the European Union did not formulate special regulatory norms, and the only way to launch such products was through contracts, but later they began to be issued in countries with special regulatory norms, and their nature changed. Structured asset-backed bonds are tailored to meet the risk needs of some special investors. In terms of rights and obligations, they are similar to ABS products to some extent. For example, through SPV issuance, assets are transferred from sponsors to SPV, and asset pools are stripped from sponsors' balance sheets.

In addition, in recent years, the so-called "qualified assets" in the asset pool used to issue asset-backed bonds have also changed to some extent. Traditionally, loans issued by credit institutions to the government and the public sector are the main assets in the asset pool. Now, private sector loans (residential and commercial mortgages) account for an increasing proportion of the asset pool. Denmark and Germany have also introduced ship loans into asset pools and become qualified assets for issuing asset-backed bonds. Issuers of structured asset-backed bonds usually use mortgage assets as collateral assets.

In order to enhance the liquidity of the asset-backed bond market and attract more international investors, the European Union has established a special platform for large-scale issuance and trading of asset-backed bonds in the interbank market, 65438-0995. The large-value issuance trading platform only trades fixed-rate bonds with one-time principal and interest repayment. The issuer is required to issue a minimum amount of 654.38 billion euros at a time, and at least five market makers (the issuer itself is usually one of the market makers) are identified, and the quoted amount of a single transaction is not less than 654.38+0.5 million euros. Although there are also electronic transactions, the bulk trading platform mostly adopts the counter trading system. Due to the active market maker, the transaction volume of bulk asset-backed bonds in the European bond market is the largest except national debt, and its interest rate has also become the world interest rate benchmark of this kind of bonds, which plays a decisive role in the global related interest rate market. In the third quarter of 2006, Washington Mutual Bank took the lead in issuing asset-backed bonds in the United States, and in May 2007, the fund was successfully issued for the second time. Bank of America entered the asset-backed bond market in March 2007.

In several other countries in the United States, the asset-backed bond market has also developed to a certain extent. Market participants are increasingly concerned about the future development potential of the Canadian asset-backed bond market. As early as 1995, Argentina laid the foundation for issuing structured asset-backed bonds. Mexico has established an asset-backed bond system similar to Denmark, and its asset-backed bond program is the result of extensive international cooperation.

In 2006, Australian regulator APRA made it clear again that deposit institutions were not allowed to issue asset-backed bonds, but in 2007, asset-backed bonds once again entered its agenda.

In March, 2007, Turkey passed relevant laws and introduced the guarantee bond as a new financing tool.

According to the statistics of ECBC, in 2007, 19 countries issued asset-backed bonds, and the total amount issued in 2007 reached 52,6031billion euros, of which mortgage assets, public sector loans, mixed assets and ship loans accounted for 66 1% of the total respectively. From a national perspective, Denmark, Germany, France, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom rank in the top six, with total issuance of 65.438+0.4/kloc-0.349 billion euros, 65.438+0.35375 billion euros, 60.623 billion euros, 56.85438 billion euros and 36.638 billion euros respectively.

According to ECBC statistics, at the end of 2007, the balance of asset-backed bonds in 22 countries in the world totaled 2 1 10097 billion euros, of which the balance of secured bonds backed by mortgage assets, public loans, mixed assets and ship loans accounted for 54.9%, 40.7%, 3.8% and 0.6% respectively. From a national perspective, Germany, Denmark, Spain, France, Sweden and the United Kingdom are in the forefront, with bond balances reaching 888.558 billion euros, 344.572 billion euros, 283.334 billion euros, 200.055 billion euros, 92.254 billion euros and 865.438+96.4 billion euros respectively.

In the globalization of asset-backed bonds, there are several trends worthy of attention: first, the relative importance of asset-backed bonds backed by public sector loans continues to decline; Secondly, internationalization leads to the increasing issuance of asset-backed bonds denominated in foreign currencies; Thirdly, when a new country establishes a capitalized asset-backed bond system (version), its standards may be different from those in Western Europe. Therefore, it seems that it is more difficult to get a recognized definition of asset-backed bonds than before, and the difference between asset-backed bonds and ABS (asset-backed securities) has become more blurred. Finally, it is necessary for individual investors to make their own judgments to decide how much change they are willing to accept and what price they are willing to pay within the guaranteed bond structure.