Publications

May 2005 (Revised May 2006)
Background Note

Accounting for Asset-Backed Securitization

Introduces the basic concept of asset securitization and the accounting for these transactions. View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Investment

October 1998 (Revised May 1999)
Case

Commercial Financial Services, Inc.: Securitization of Charged-off Credit Card Receivables

By: Kenneth A. Froot and Ivan G. Farman

Commercial Financial Services (CFS) is a company that buys charged-off credit card receivables, securitizes them, and then attempts to collect on the receivables. The case deals with how the firm makes money and the limits of securitization as an efficient financing... View Details

Keywords: Financing; Asset-back Finance; Financial Policy; Securitization; Credit; Financial Strategy; Business Strategy; Policy; Financial Services Industry

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January 2025
Case

Untapped Global: Financing Africa's Missing Middle

By: Raymond Kluender and Emanuele Colonnelli

In November 2024, Jim Chu, founder and CEO of Untapped Global, faced mounting internal tensions over the company’s strategic direction. Untapped had developed a data-driven revenue-based financing (RBF) model to address the “missing middle” problem—the $5.2 trillion... View Details

October 2013 (Revised August 2016)
Case

NOWaccount

By: Ramana Nanda, William A. Sahlman and Lauren Barley

It was September 2013, and NOWaccount Network Corporation (NOW®) co-founders John Hayes and Lara Hodgson were putting the final touches on the presentation deck for their annual shareholders' meeting. Along with co-founder Stacey Abrams, the pair had designed NOW's... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Finance; Finance; Entrepreneurship

February 2006
Case

Fraikin SA

By: W. Carl Kester, Vincent Marie Dessain and Monika Stachowiak

Provides an example of a so-called "whole business" securitization. In early 2004, Fraikin, France's leading industrial vehicle rental company, compares several alternatives for refinancing a large bridge loan within a year. Presents three primary options: a classic... View Details

Keywords: Debt Securities; Transportation; Renting or Rental; Transportation Industry; Service Industry; France

February 2022 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Hertz in Bankruptcy: A Wild Ride in Pandemic Times

By: Samuel Antill, Stuart Gilson and Kristin Mugford

Hertz filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in response to asset-backed securities (ABS) obligations and the COVID-19 pandemic. Enthusiastic Robinhood investors and shrewd negotiating tactics helped Hertz stabilize. Roughly nine months into the bankruptcy, Hertz received... View Details

Keywords: Bankruptcy Reorganization; COVID-19 Pandemic; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Health Pandemics; Valuation; Capital Structure; Negotiation; Private Equity; Travel Industry; United States

29 Jun 2020
Working Paper Summaries

Measuring the Perceived Liquidity of the Corporate Bond Market

Keywords: by Sergey Chernenko and Adi Sunderam; Financial Services

April 1993 (Revised December 1994)
Case

American Express TRS Charge-Card Receivables

By: Andre F. Perold and Kuljot Singh

American Express (TRS) Co. is considering a proposal to securitize a portion of their consumer charge-card receivables portfolio. In the past, they have relied exclusively on a captive finance subsidiary, Credco, to perform this function. The proposed securitization... View Details

Keywords: Credit Cards; Restructuring; Borrowing and Debt; Financial Management; Financial Strategy; Debt Securities; Travel Industry

April 1993 (Revised December 1994)
Case

Lehman Brothers and the Securitization of American Express Charge-Card Receivables

By: Andre F. Perold and Kuljot Singh

In early 1992, Lehman Brothers had received a mandate from its affiliate, American Express Travel Related Services (TRS) Co., to securitize a portion of its consumer charge-card receivables portfolio. It is now July 22, and Lehman and TRS have just returned from a... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Credit Cards; Financial Instruments; Stocks; Asset Pricing

Working Paper

Measuring the Perceived Liquidity of the Corporate Bond Market

By: Sergey Chernenko and Adi Sunderam

We propose a novel measure of bond market liquidity that does not depend on transaction data: the strength of the cross-sectional relationship between mutual fund cash holdings and fund flow volatility. Our measure captures how liquid funds perceive their portfolio... View Details

Keywords: Bond Market; Bonds; Financial Liquidity; Measurement and Metrics

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April 2015
Article

Money Creation and the Shadow Banking System

By: Adi Sunderam

Many explanations for the rapid growth of the shadow banking system in the mid-2000s focus on money demand. This paper asks whether the short-term liabilities of the shadow banking system behave like money. We first present a simple model where households demand money... View Details

Keywords: Financial Instruments; Banks and Banking

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July 2020
Case

CSL Capital Management: Patriot Proppants (A)

By: Victoria Ivashina and Yury Kapko

This two-part case series follows CSL Capital’s 2009 investment in the greenfield manufacturing company, Patriot Proppants. CSL, a recently established investment firm, employs a unique investment model, funding new ("green field") energy service businesses that serve... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Renewable Energy; Business Model; Decision Making

Article

The Harmonization of Lending Standards within Banks through Mandated Loan-Level Transparency

By: Jung Koo Kang, Maria Loumioti and Regina Wittenberg-Moerman

We explore whether the introduction of transparent reporting rules increases credit standard harmonization within a bank. We exploit the new loan-level reporting rules imposed on banks that borrow from the European Central Bank using repurchase agreements... View Details

Keywords: Transparency; External And Internal Reporting; Credit Term Harmonization; Regulatory Scrutiny; Banks and Banking; Credit; Financial Reporting; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Learning

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