Commercial paper is a long established and easily understood 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:financial instrument. But like so many other things in the world of money, 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:financial engineers have ta🔥ken the traditional commercia♋l paper market and tweaked it.

The result is 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) and its associated conduit, the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:structured investment vehicle (SIV), which is a special kind of conduit whose structure makes them🐭 risk🅷ier.

In this article, we'll describe the workings of the ABCP market, including conduits, and show you what you need to look out for.

What Is Asset-Backed Commercial Paper

Asset-backed commercial paper is like traditional commercial paper, in that it is issued with maturities of one year or less (typically less than 270 days) and is highly rated. Commercial paper is used as short-term vehicles for investing cash, and can be referred to as a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:cash equivalents.

The difference between ABCP and regular commercial paper is that instead of being an unsecured 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:promissory note representing an obligation of the issuing company, ABCP is backed by securities. Therefore, the perceived quality of the ABCP depends on the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:underlying securities.

Conduits

A conduit is a bankruptcy remote 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:special purpose vehicle or entity, which means that it is a separate business entity and is not rolled up into the sponsoring company's 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:balance sheet. You will not see the assets and 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:liabilities of the ABCP program in the sponsoring company's 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:consolidated financial statements. This is done to free up th♐e sponsor company's balance sheet and improve its financial ratios.

ABCP is issued by one of these nominally capitalized, bankruptcy remote conduits. There are four categories of conduits: multi-seller, single-seller, security 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:arbitrage, and SIVs.

Here, we'll focus primarily on SIVs, because they are the most prone to problems under certain market conditions. However, the chosen conduit structure depends on the goal of the plan sponsor. For example, the proceeds from the ABCP issuance in multi- and single-seller conduits might be used to fund new mortgage loans in the case of a mortgage finance company. The structure or type of conduit is important for a number of reasons that we'll discuss later.

With a multi-seller conduit, the asset-backed securities that are purchased to be used in the program are bought from more than one 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:originator. With a single seller, it is just one originator. For this reason, a multi-seller conduit provides more originator diversification and is potentially less risky. Multi-seller programs also often employ some type of credit enhancement that helps to mitigate credit and liquidity risks. This 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:credit enhancement can be a cash reserve or guarantees from ෴sponsor or third-party ba⛦nks.

Single-seller conduits do not usually employ the same type of credit enhancements as multi-seller conduits. However, most single-seller conduits are extendible, so they can extend past the original maturity da💧te if they are unable to roll the ABCP at maturity. To roll means repaying commercial paper with the proceeds from a new issuance of commercial paper. However, the extension is not indefinite; they have to auction assets if they cannot roll on the extended deadline.

In a securities arbitrage conduit, the aim of the financial sponsor is to issue ABCP as a way to receive funds to purchase term securities. This way, they earn a spread on the rate they pay to purchasers of the ABCP (lower) and the return they receive on the term secur♔ities they purchased (higher). Like multi-seller programs, most security arbitrage conduits have some type of third-party credit enhancement🐼.

SIVs

A structured investment vehicle, or SIV, is a special kind of conduit because it issues ABCP. Many SIVs are administered by large 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:commercial banks or other 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:asset managers such as 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:investment banks or 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:hedge funds. They issue ABCP as a way to fund purchases of 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:investment grade securities and also to earn the spread.

They usually invest the majority of their portfolios in AAA and AA assets, which include an allocation to residential 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:mortgage-backed securities. In contrast to a multi-seller or securities arbitrage conduit, an SIV does not employ credit enhancement, and the underlying SIV assets are 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:marked-to-market at least weekly. 

Marketplace Disruptions

What happens to ABCP when the market value of the underlying assets is reduced? This reduction introduces liquidity risk. W🐈hy would there be liquidity concerns in this market? All commercial paper should be stable, safe investments, right? Well, the ABCP market is a little bit different, in that its fate is tied to the value of the underlying assets.

The ABCP market goes the💫 way of the underꦿlying asset market. If market disruptions occur in the underlying market, this can have real effects in the ABCP market.

For example, ABCP can be created from any type of asset-backed security, such as student loan asset-backed, credit card asset-backed or residential mortgage asset-backed (including prime and subprime) securities. If there are significant negative developments i💫n any of the underlying markets, this will affect the perceived quality aဣnd risk of ABCP.

Because commercial paper investors may be risk averse, concerns about ABCP may cause them to seek other short-term, cash-equivalent investments such as traditional commercial paper, T-bills and so on. This means that t𝕴he ABCP issuers will not be able to roll their ABCP, as they will hav📖e no investors to buy their new issuance.

Liquidation and Failing SIVs

There are certain provisions pertaining to ABCP programs that may require 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:liquidation of the underlying assets if certain conditions are not met. This means you could potentially have several large ABCP programs selling their depressed assets all at the same time—putting even more downward pricing pressure on a stressed asset-backed 🦄securities marke🐷t. These provisions are put in place to protect ABCP investors.

For example, 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:forced liquidation might occur if mark-to-market impairment is greater than 50%. Therefore, the composition of the underlying assets is important in tim🧸es of market stress. If the SIV is concentrated in an asset class that is experiencing great downward price pressure, it will be at greater risk of liquidation or failing.

SIV sponsors may not be specifically liable for the performance of the ABCP issued, but may suffer 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:reputational risk if they do not repay investors. Therefore, a large commercial bank that is involved in a failing SIV may have more incentive to repay investors as opposed to a small hedge fund or investment company specifically set up for this type of arbitrage. It would be seen as bad business if a large, well-known bank let investors—who thought their money was safe in a cash-like asset—lose money on an ABCP i൩nvestme🌃nt.

The Bottom Line

Investor understanding tends to lag behind new developments in the financial markets. Investors can sometimes take for granted that what they've purchased has a different set of risks than its predecessors. Often, these risks are not apparent until times of market stress. ABCP is commercial paper, but it has characteristics that, under certain market conditions, make it much more risky than traditional commercial paper.