DBRS Releases January 2012 Monthly Canadian ABS Report

DBRS has today released its Monthly Canadian ABS Report, which provides an overview of the Canadian term asset-backed securities (ABS) market for the month ending January 31, 2012. The report provides detailed information on the $29.8 billion market, with disclosure on issuance volumes, asset composition and 12-month transaction performance histories. New transactions and rating actions that took place during and after the reporting period are also summarized in the report.

The total outstanding amount in the Canadian ABS market was $29.8 billion, up 8.7% from the previous month’s outstanding amount of $27.4 billion. This increase was a result of issuance from CARDS II Trust, Master Credit Card Trust and Canadian Capital Auto Receivables Asset Trust II (CCARAT II). Regular runoff amounted to $278.7 million.

CARDS II Trust was active this month, issuing two series of notes: Series 2012-1 and Series 2012-2. The Series 2012-1 senior note was issued in U.S. dollars, marking the first U.S. dollar note issued by the trust. Master Credit Card Trust also came to market, issuing a $1.1 billion note through Series 2012-1. Within auto finance, CCARAT II issued a $521 million note through 2012-1. There were two notes discontinued in the month: the Xceed Mortgage Trust 2007-T2 Class C note and the CARDS II Trust Series 2011-1 notes.

Credit cards remain the dominant asset class within the ABS market, with 75.1% market share, up from 73.8% in December 2011. Auto loans and auto leases stood at 16.1%, down slightly from 16.4% in the previous month, followed by equipment finance, which is down to 2.2% from 2.5% in December 2011. Changes in the ABS market composition continue to favour consumer lending, with credit card and auto loan/lease programs accounting for approximately 91.2% of the ABS market, up from 78.8% year over year.

Notes:
All figures are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted.