Financial Supervisory Service
www.fss.or.kr

Press Release
February 17, 2009

Asset-Backed Securities Issuance: 2008
The total value of asset-backed securities (ABS) issued during 2008 stands at KRW20.6
trillion, up 4.2%, from KRW19.8 trillion a year earlier, while the total number of ABS
issued in 2008 stands at 81, which is down 23.6% from the 106 issued during 2007. The
decrease in issuances of real estate project financing ABS and future receivables ABS
issued by corporations led to the overall decrease in the number of ABS issuances
during 2008. However, the total value of ABS was able to increase due to the rise inlarge scale ABS issued by credit-specialized finance companies.
Total ABS Issuance: 2004-2008
AmountPercentage change
Number

2004
26,976.4
170

2005
28,607.2
6.0
236

2006
23,222.3-18.8
183(In KRW, billions)
2007
2008
19,765.2
20,604.7
-14.9
4.2
106
81

ABS issuance during 2008 has 4 significant points. Firstly, ABS issued by creditspecialized finance companies rose due to the increase in installment payments up to the3rd quarter of 2008, which led to an increase in ABS issued by installment financing
companies, and ABS issued overseas by credit card companies.
ABS Issuance by Issuer
2006
Financial Institutions
10,334.3(44.5)
Banks
4,352.1(18.7)
Credit-specialized finance companies
5,382.5(23.2)
Securities and insurance companies
548.7
(2.4)
Public Corporations
4,099.0(17.7)
Others8,789.0(37.8)
Total
23,222.3 (100.0)* All figures in parenthesis reflect the percentage of the total(In KRW, billions, percent)
2007
2008
11,312.2(57.2) 14,638.4(71.0)
4,989.8
25.5
4,316.2(20.9)
5,274.5
26.7
7,956.3(38.6)
1,048.0
5.3
2,365.9(11.5)
5,005.5(25.3)
4,707.2(22.8)
3,447.5(17.5)
1,259.1(6.1)
19,765.2 (100.0) 20,604.7 (100.0)

Secondly, to relieve the financial pressure on SMEs due to the economic slowdown, PCBOs, issued with credit enhancements from government supported credit guarantee
companies, rose during 2008.

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Financial Supervisory Service
www.fss.or.kr

Issuance of Principal ABS: 2007-2008
2007
AmountNumber5,105.8
24ABS issued by credit-specialized financecompanies*P-CBO
649.2
ABS issued by corporations
3,447.5
Future receivables
2,234.9
Real estate PF ABS
1,212.6
Others
10,562.7
Total
19,765.2* Credit card receivable, installment payment, lease-backed loans(In KRW, billions, percent)
2008
AmountNumber7,956.3
28

6
35
18
17
41
106

1,754.0
1,259.0
530.0
729.0
9,635.4
20,604.7

813
6
7
32
81

Thirdly, with the credit crunch and the growing uncertainty regarding the economic
outlook, the future receivables ABS issued by corporations and real estate projectfinancing ABS decreased.
Lastly, despite the decrease of ABS issuances, due to the deterioration of the financial
market following the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in September, 2008, it has beenback on track since November, 2008. The rise can be attributed to the National
Pension Service’s purchase of ABS and the increase of P-CBOs, issued with credit
enhancements from government supported credit guarantee companies.
During 2009 a rise in P-CBO issuances is expected to further support companies thatare facing financial difficulties. Also the issuance of NPL-backed securitization may
rise following the expected increase of financial institution’s non-performing loans.
With the use of credit cards and installment payment plans expected to decreaseduring 2009, due to consumers spending less following the economic slowdown, thecontinuation of the upward trend of ABS issued by credit-specialized financecompanies will be unlikely.

###Contact Persons:Park Jung-Yoo
Associate Director
Corporate Disclosure Department
Financial Supervisory Service

Lee Bum-Yoal
Associate Director
International Cooperation Department
Financial Supervisory Service(02) 3786-8102(02) 3786-7910

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