A E5 billion asset-backed deal that temporarily allowed ABN AMRO to leapfrog over J.P. Morgan Securities and Morgan Stanley into the number three spot on the European securitization league tables has been disallowed. That the deal, Quicksilver, had been included in the league table in the first place has some London securitization bankers piqued. They claim none of the notes have appeared in the market and were not sold outside of ABN or its affiliates, one of the league table's criterion. A spokesman for Thomson Financial, the league table's compiler, declined to comment.
The league table in question is the All International securitizations for the period 1/1/02 through 9/30/02. With the Quicksilver deal, ABN would have had a total of $9.9 billion. Instead, the firm sits at number six with $5.1 billion.
John Mullen, global head of securitization at ABN in London, says confidentiality agreements precluded the firm from revealing where the bonds were sold and other deal details. He says the criteria used by Thomson to determine league table eligibility was reviewed and ABN officials agreed the Quicksilver deal met the criteria. Mullen and two other ABN officials have sent Thomson Financial a letter assuring the deal met league table requirements. At press time, Mullen had not spoken directly to Thomson and did not know the reason the deal had been excluded.
Either way, Mullen says ABN AMRO's league table position is not paramount to its business. "I think anytime you have a business you're running, there are two important components: visibility and perceived value by the clients. The first [component] not being the most-important. It is very rare a client gives you business based on where you are in the league tables," says Mullen. Mullen says ABN will still be in strong league table position whether the deal is included or not.
One issuer says firms are more concerned with their position than they let on: "Banks are obsessed with league tables," he says. Derek Lloyd of Kensington Mortgage Co., a U.K. non-conforming residential mortgage-backed issuer, says, "[League table position] is not an overriding issue. Most of our deals are led by lead managers who bring us short-term funding, banks we have an existing relationship with." The ability for an investment bank to bring structural innovations to the table is also key, says Lloyd.
One Dutch issuer says league tables demonstrate a firm's distribution capability, but that deal support, structuring, execution and other criteria weigh greater when deciding on awarding a mandate.