S&P: ABCP Issuance Will Exceed $1T in '06

The issuance of U.S. asset-backed commercial paper, used to finance such assets as residential mortgages and credit cards, is expected to surpass $1 trillion for the first time in 2006, according to Standard & Poor's Ratings Services.Citing its own econometric model and a recent survey of nine conduit sponsors, S&P predicted ABCP issuance of $1.15 trillion this year, which would represent a 24.6% increase. Issuance climbed 24.4% last year, driven largely by mortgage and collateralized debt obligation warehousing facilities and structures aimed at minimizing the use of bank-provided liquidity, such as repo programs, S&P said. The company can be found online at http://www.standardandpoors.com.