IntesaBCI is structuring a jumbo residential mortgage-backed securitization, which it plans to launch within the next 30 days. The deal is rumoured to be E3-4 billion in size, and the Milan-based bank has not yet selected underwriters for the deal, according to a member of the bank's structuring team. The deal, if even over E2 billion, will be Italy's largest RMBS deal to date.
The structurer at Intesa says it is too early to assign an exact amount to the transaction's size, but did confirm the bank is seeking to launch a large amount.
"RMBS paper is very much in demand, but pricing will depend on how this deal is structured," says a syndicate official. If the deal is done through a special purpose vehicle domiciled in Ireland or Luxembourg, thus immune from Italian withholding tax, it could be priced as tightly as 22 basis points over three-month EURIBOR, suggests the syndicate official. Using an Italian special purpose vehicle could push that pricing out by a few basis points.
"It will be the first benchmark-sized deal from Italy and even if it uses an Italian SPV, there could be a lot of interest," says the official.