Mexico’s capital markets have held up better following the US sub-prime crisis than experts expected, highlighted by recent issuances of record-size residential mortgage-backed securities.
On August 6, BBVA Bancomer placed Ps4.829 billion ($470 million) equivalent in UDI inflation-adjusted notes denominated 2033 RMBS, the largest MBS sale to date from Mexico. Recently, HSBC also announced it was preparing to sell between Ps1.5 billion and Ps2 billion in RMBS.
On August 14, Metrofinanciera announced plans to issue MBS valued at about Ps2.3 billion, made up of Ps1.6 billion equivalent in 2033 notes denominated in the UDI inflation-linked unit and Ps769 million in peso-denominated 2038 notes.
Furthermore, on August 21, Infonavit, a government-backed institution for social housing, announced that it planned to issue a record Ps4.84 billion RMBS during the next few months. In fact, on August 27, Infonavit issued its third UDI inflation-adjusted RMBS this year for Ps2 billion, which was oversubscribed by almost two times.
Juan De Mollein, managing director in structured finance at Standard & Poor’s, says: "RMBS issuance is showing a different trend this year from last: the issuance is less frequent but the sums involved are bigger. Overall, and including the big transactions in the pipeline, total issuance this year will be greater than last year."