Baker & McKenzie advised Citigroup on the securitization of car loans worth EUR973 million for Toyota Kredit Bank GmbH. The relevant authorities approved the transaction on 22 October 2014.

"Citibank acting as lead manager established a securitization of high-quality assets for Toyota. German Auto ABS are securitizations that suffered no losses during the financial crisis and are therefore currently promoted by the European Central Bank," commented Dr. Martin Kaiser, head of Baker & McKenzie's Finance group in Germany.

The notes earn interest at a fixed rate, which helps avoid complicated interest rate swap transactions.

Baker & McKenzie regularly advises on projects in the field of structured financing and debt financing. Most recently, the firm advised BMW on the securitization of auto loans worth EUR1 billion, DZ Bank on restructuring and modernizing its EUR10 billion ABCP program CORAL Capital Limited and NIBC Bank N.V. on the restructuring of existing financial transactions of the Albis Group as part of the acquisition of Gallinat Bank by NIBC. With a large number of German and international transactions, Baker & McKenzie has a firm grip on the ABS sector particularly in the automotive industry. Regular clients include VW Bank, VW Leasing, Porsche Financial Services, Mercedes Bank, BMW Bank, LeasePlan, FFS Bank and MAN Finance International.

Legal advisor Citigroup:

Baker & McKenzie

Lead: Dr. Martin Kaiser (partner, Banking & Finance, Frankfurt)

Team:

Banking & Finance: Sandra Wittinghofer (partner, Frankfurt), Sahra Demirbilek, Stephan Lehnen (all associates, Frankfurt) und Laurent Fessmann (partner, Baker & McKenzie Luxembourg), Basile Femelat (senior associate, Baker & McKenzie Luxembourg)

Consumer Protection Law: Dr. Holger Lutz (partner, Frankfurt)

Tax/ Turnover Tax Law: Christoph Becker (partner, Frankfurt), Jochen-Meyer-Burow (partner, Frankfurt)