Strong Demand At Launch Of NCUA Corporate Bailout Bonds

WALL STREET-Traders last week were anxiously awaiting the first offering of NCUA Guaranteed Notes, the bonds derived from cash flows on toxic assets held by the corporate credit unions that carry a full federal guarantee.

"There's strong support. [But] people still need to see what the cash flows are, and how that plays out," one Wall Street trader told Credit Union Journal.

The first offering of $3.8 billion was derived from cash flows on private label residential mortgage-backed securities owned by U.S. Central FCU, with additional offerings on securities owned by WesCorp FCU and three other corporate failures planned in the coming weeks, according to sources on the Street.

The majority of the notes, $3.3 billion worth, had a 4.21% coupon, while $566 million worth carried a 3.34% rate. All of the notes were of 10-year maturities.

The NCUA bonds are being priced similar to notes offered by the FDIC based on the cash flows derived from toxic securities owned by failed banks. The FDIC has sold about $6 billion of notes priced around Libor plus 55 basis points, or the SWAPs rate plus 100. Most of it was floating-rate notes.

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