Santander Central Hispano is planning two collateralized loan obligations of loans that it and its subsidiary Banesto have made to small- and medium-sized enterprises. Ignacio Ortega, a member of Santander's securitization group in Madrid, says the firm is still finalizing the size of the underlying collateral pools but reckons the Banesto deal will be about E1 billion and will be in the market by June.
Ortega says Santander is still waiting for the government to clarify the amount of guarantees it will issue for these types of notes. The government has been subsidizing these types of securitizations for some time, however, each year it announces the euro amount it will guarantee.