Australia’s Macquarie Bank is expected to launch a landmark one bln yuan mortgage-backed securitization scheme based on mainland properties, the South China Morning Post reported.
　　
　　The newspaper, citing market sources, said the plan to securitize one bln yuan worth of commercial mortgages - the minimum possible given the large fixed costs involved in such a transaction -- would be less likely to strike resistance from Chinese regulators who are slowly opening the door to securitization.
　　
　　China Development Bank and China Construction Bank launched the mainland’s first asset-backed securitizations last year and if Macquarie’s plan is approved it will be the first foreign-based fund to carry out such a scheme.
　　
　　The newspaper said that Macquarie had planned to launch its Macquarie Wanda real estate investment trust with 12 mainland properties earlier this year, but the deal was scotched by Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission.
　　
　　It added that mainland property developers are also considering commercial mortgage-based securitizations which probably would go out as private placements.
　　
　　Mainland lenders China Merchants Bank and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank are likely to be next in line to securitize their loans books, with deals of about three bln yuan each expected this year, according to the report.
　　
　　(1 usd = 8.00 yuan)