S&P's ABCP Highlights from SFIG
S&P Global Ratings published a release entitled, "ABCP Highlights from the 2018 SFIG Vegas Conference," which says, "We recently attended the Structured Finance Industry Group (SFIG) conference in Las Vegas (Feb 25–28) where we co-hosted an ABS/ABCP investor round table, spoke with market participants and attended panels and lectures on a wide array of topics." Their Key Take-Aways include: "ABCP will remain a relevant product for years to come because of its significance in funding the 'Real Economy'. ABCP has reshaped itself in the years following the financial crisis, overcoming major regulatory hurdles including Risk Retention, Money Market reforms, and Basel III. ABCP sponsors have satisfied the Risk Retention regulatory requirements, typically by purchasing 5% of their conduits' outstanding ABCP. A recent court ruling that exempts CLOs from holding 5% capital for every transaction could potentially extend to ABCP, freeing some sponsors from the capital burden." They add, "Due to Money Market reforms, the ABCP investor base has shifted dramatically from the prime institutional funds to non-2a7 funds, such as private liquidity and government funds.... Overall lending has evolved substantially, with issuers becoming more comfortable with existing regulation and technology contributing to the proliferation of new market entrants including FinTech companies and global alternative asset managers whose appetite for shorter term products, such as ABCP, has grown considerably. Repatriation of money in the wake of tax reform could give a temporary lift to the ABCP market as corporate treasurers, with new cash on hand, explore available short-term investment opportunities."
