ORIGENCE ASSISTS OCCU IN CLOSING OF $275M AUTO SECURITIZATION DEAL

Tony Boutelle

​Origence, the leading lending technology solutions provider for credit unions, collaborated with top financial services provider and investment banking advisor, Stifel, to assist OCCU in building the credit union’s first auto asset-backed securities (ABS) deal.
 
This $275 million auto securitization deal is comprised of direct and indirect prime-quality vehicle loans and retail installment sales contracts. OCCU, an Oregon-based credit union, executed this deal while also realizing improved efficiency, enhanced internal collaboration, and full support from the Origence and Stifel teams.
 
“Origence, Stifel, and our transaction advisor, ALM First, all proved invaluable in this important new initiative,” said Ron Neumann, president & CEO of OCCU. “And, with the assistance of the team at Origence, we were able to create automated processes that helped us realize incredible efficiencies. In fact, the collaboration produced the template that will guide our future ABS deals.”
 
OCCU now has the infrastructure in place to collateralize its vehicle loans, which include light-duty trucks, sport utility vehicles, and vans - both new and used. This marks the fourth official auto securitization deal completed in the industry since the release of NCUA’s June 2017 Opinion Letter finding that the authority to issue and sell securities is within an FCU's incidental powers under the FCU Act. With these securities now firmly in place, OCCU is in a prime position to continue its digital transformation, improve members' experience, and embrace the technology that digital-first markets demand.
 
“Helping credit unions to make more loans and increase their efficiencies is our mission, so it made sense to collaborate with the OCCU and Stifel teams on this endeavor,” said Tony Boutelle, president and CEO of Origence. “We are looking forward to a continued partnership and a successful securitization program.”
 
“This fourth successful credit union securitization makes it clear that we are well past the proof of concept phase,” added Rob Smith, managing director at Stifel. “And with the credit union industry surpassing banks for the greatest market share of auto financings, the value of securitization to create reliable off-balance sheet origination capacity and manage liquidity, credit and interest rate risk for institutions with world-class lending platforms like OCCU cannot be understated.”

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