Kit Menkin's Leasing News

www.leasingnews.org  Wednesday, September 18, 2002

Accurate, fair and unbiased news for the equipment Leasing Industry

Tuesday’s  Leasing News posted www.leasingnews.org  at 11:15 am PDT

( added music to yesterday’s to “pep it up” –reason for delay in posting)

       

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    e-Mail Removal Form:  \http://65.209.205.32/LeasingNews/removalform.asp

 

Pictures from the Past

                                

1993     
Jeff Wong, Dinkelspiel & Dinkelspiel, making

his grand entrance as Caesar at the Western Association of Equipment Leasing Roman Bacchanalla reception.

Jeff Wong recently passed away and a foundation as been established by the Equipment Leasing and Finance Foundation.

 

 

            http://www.leasefoundation.org/Gifts/JeffWongMem.htm

 

 

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                      Help Wanted ads

 

 

 

Classified Ads:  

 

http://65.209.205.32/LeasingNews/JobPostingsWanted.htm

 

Asset Management: New Orleans, LA   "ELA"

Portfolio Manager/Hibernia Bank/New Orleans/ Provides operational support for equipment leasing services. 7+ years of exp. in commercial equipment leasing/asset management. Email:lcallery@hibernia.com

   

 

Collector: Marshall, MN       "UAEL "

New Collection Manager position available to lead collection efforts in small ticket group. Works with Management peers to recommend actions on non-collectable accounts and ensure compliance to company policy. Email:tom.landmark@themanifestgroup.com

 

Contract Administrator: Dallas, TX    "UAEL "

Pioneer Capital Corporation is looking for an experienced document/funding processing person. Interested parties should email resume to:johnb@pioneercapitalcorp.com

     

Controller: Pearl River, NY      "ELA"

Asst. Controller. Central US Progressive organization in the vendor finance business. CPA required, Big 5 exp. preferred. Competitive base + bonus. Relocation. Email:jsg@andersonyoungassoc.com

 

 

 Headlines----

 

  Top Reasons To Lease --ELA Study

        CIT Announces $1.9M  Quarter Loss

          Jeff Taylor: " I Regret Sitting for the CLP Exam Next Month"
          CSI Acquires German IT Lessor

            Lucent Names Key Equipment in Europe as Partner            

"Frontier Leasing Preps Third Equipment ABS Via WestLB"

  eLNA----Lessors.com  White Page Listing Subscription $50 a Year

      Fleet Cap. Leasing's Vendor Finance Div. Selects

             CapitalStream's FinanceCenter

      Willis Lease Finance Closes New, Increased Warehouse Credit Facility
                    a
nnounces Partners for Planned Securitization

              Tyco Details Extravagance of Ex-CEO--LA Times

                No longer 'the perfect partner’s
Neutron Jack 'has met his match'--LA Times

                    JPMorgan Outlook Grim Amid Bad Loans, Revenue Drop

 

### Denotes Press Release

 

     Tomorrow---Top Gun Eric Sidebotham

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Top Reasons To Lease Study

 

http://www.leasingnews.org/PDFFiles/study_leasing.pdf

 

Equipment Leasing and Finance Foundation Study Identifies Traits of Small Businesses Who Lease Equipment Most

 

              Top Reasons To Lease Identified Earlier Correlate With Foundation Findings

 

                                                       

 

Arlington, Virginia A study released today by The Equipment Leasing and Finance Foundation identifies  the reasons small firms lease and the characteristics of the small firms who lease the most. According to the results, small companies who use leasing as a strategic financing option are those that are either partnerships or corporations, have more than  $250,000 in assets, have been in existence for less than 20 years, employ managers that have at least five years worth of experience, and are not among the firms with the very strongest credit ratings.

                                                       

 

    “The study implies the motivations behind the lease versus buy decision of small, privately-held firms,” said Lisa Levine, executive director of The Equipment Leasing and Finance Foundation. “The information underscores what the Equipment

 Leasing Association (ELA) discovered earlier in the year through its study of the Small Business Administration's (SBA) State Small Business Contest winners. “                                                     

 

     “We see a strong correlation between the characteristics of the small firm who will mostly likely lease equipment versus  purchase, and the top three reasons to lease identified by the SBA study,”  continued Levine. “Clearly, small firms who are younger and growing would find that the advantages gained by leasing equipment help them compete.”

 

                                                       

 

               The top three reasons to lease stated by the contest winners, cited in ELAs SBA study, are:

 

                                    ·        the ability to manage company growth,

 

                                  ·        take advantage of the latest technology, and

 

                                         ·        improve asset management.

 

                                                       

 

                    The SBA survey also found that 73 percent of small businesses lease equipment.

 

 Organizations seeking more information about leasing, including the questions to ask before signing a lease and help in finding a leasing company, should visit www.LeaseAssistant.org

 

 The Foundation study is the first study of leasing and small firms undertaken by the Foundation, and one of the few available on  the subject. The study is based on data taken from the National Survey of Small Business Finances that is conducted by the

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the U.S. Small Business Administration.  The most recent available data, from 1998, was gathered from more than 4,600 small U.S. firms. 

 

http://www.leasingnews.org/PDFFiles/study_leasing.pdf

                                                       

 

                                                                             

 

                             About The Equipment Leasing and Finance Foundation

 

   The Equipment Leasing and Finance Foundation is a 501c3 non-profit organization established in 1989 by the Equipment Leasing Association of America (http://www.elaonline.com).  The Foundation develops and promotes the body of knowledge to enhance recognition and understanding of equipment lease financing.  The Foundation’s strategic objectives are to maximize the role that equipment leasing plays in the world economy, and to be the prime developer and disseminator of a body of knowledge of the leasing industry.  Visit the Foundation online at http://www.leasefoundation.org.

 

                                                  About ELA

 

Organized in 1961, the Equipment Leasing Association (ELA) is a non-profit association representing companies involved in the dynamic equipment leasing and finance industry.  ELA's mission is to promote the leasing industry as a major source of funds for

   capital investment in the United States and abroad.  ELA maintains an informational portal for financial decision-makers at http://www.leaseassistant.org.  Headquartered in Arlington, Va., ELA has more than 800 member companies and a staff of 27           professionals.  Equipment leasing is estimated to be a $244 billion industry in 2002.  Visit ELA online at   http://www.elaonline.com.

 

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        CIT Announces $1.9M  Quarter Loss

 

( This may get through to our CIT readers, we shall see. Yesterday’s  e-mail

came back from all CIT addresses: “ The message has been electronically scanned and found to have content that is prohibited by Company Policy.”

 

 

 

NEW YORK,  -- CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT - News) today reported its results for the quarter ended June 30, 2002. Net loss for the quarter was $1,993.5 million including the following charges:

 

 

    (1) a $1,999.0 million goodwill impairment charge in accordance with

        SFAS 142, taking into account the initial public offering valuation of

        the company relative to the book value of goodwill recorded in

        conjunction with Tyco's acquisition of CIT.  This charge does not

        impact CIT's total tangible capitalization, cash flow or revenues.

        Goodwill as of June 30, 2002 following the impairment charge was

        $384.4 million.

    (2) a $200.0 million pretax provision related to CIT's telecommunications

        portfolio, principally reflecting further weakness in the competitive

        local exchange carrier (CLEC) industry.

    (3) a $40.0 million pretax provision related to our Argentine portfolio.

        This provision is attributable to continued deterioration of the

        valuation of Argentine pesos relative to the U.S. dollar following the

        Argentine government's economic reforms adopted earlier this year,

        which forced conversion of dollar-denominated loans into pesos.

    (4) a $20 million pre-tax provision to bolster general reserves despite

        asset run-off during the quarter.

 

 

Net income for the June 30, 2002 quarter, excluding the charges described above, was $166.7 million, as compared to $216.2 million in the March 2002 quarter prior to goodwill impairment and Argentine charges. This comparison reflects higher charge offs and increased borrowing costs associated with the disruption to our funding that began in the March 2002 quarter.

 

The table below summarizes the reported financial results, reserving actions and resulting earnings:

 

    (Dollars in millions)       Quarters Ended          Nine Months Ended

                                   June 30,                   June 30,

                             2002           2001        2002           2001

    GAAP net (loss)/

    net income as

    reported

                        $(1,993.5)        $(7.6)   $(6,109.9)        $312.6

    Add:

    Goodwill impairment    1,999.0            --      6,511.7            --

    Goodwill amortization       --          27.2           --          67.0

    Reserving actions

     and other

     charges(1)              161.2         158.0        220.1         158.0

 

    Net income - before

     charges                $166.7       $ 177.6       $621.9        $537.6

 

    (1) Reported results from the quarter ended June 30, 2001 included special

        charges totaling $158.0 million after-tax, including costs relating to

        the Tyco acquisition.

 

 

"This past quarter was a time of critical transition for CIT as we prepared to re-emerge as the largest publicly-traded independent commercial finance company. We devoted significant effort preparing for our recent IPO and maintaining liquidity for the business and at the same time focused on serving our customers and expense control. We're pleased the market endorsed our offering with demand for our shares that allowed a substantial portion of the underwriter's over-allotment option to be exercised, giving us $255 million of new capital," said Albert R. Gamper, Jr., CIT President and CEO. "Our current important initiatives are to return to the unsecured debt markets and to grow assets prudently."

 

Financial Highlights:

 

Funding and Liquidity Plan.

 

CIT's results for the June quarter were impacted by the first full quarter of higher financing costs resulting in large part from the company's exit from the commercial paper market in February 2002, its use of unsecured bank credit facilities and excess liquidity, and the issuance of $2.5 billion in 5 and 10 year term debt on April 1, 2002.

 

Following the initial public offering on July 2, 2002, CIT's long-term debt and commercial paper credit ratings were upgraded by Standard & Poor's to A/A-1 and by Fitch Ratings to A/F1, facilitating the company's return to the commercial paper markets. Moody's rates CIT long-term debt and commercial paper at A-2/P-1. On July 15, 2002 CIT announced its selection of five commercial paper dealers as a first step to re-initiate a commercial paper program, with a maximum program size targeted at $5 billion.

 

Managed Assets.

 

Managed assets declined to $47.7 billion at the end of this year's quarter from $48.1 billion at March 31, 2002 and $51.1 billion on June 30, 2001. Managed assets continued to decline due to liquidity constraints, soft origination volume reflecting current economic conditions and the continued runoff of the liquidating portfolios.

 

On balance sheet finance receivables and leases declined to $27.9 billion at June 30, 2002 from $29.7 billion at March 31, 2002 (including the $3.4 billion of securitized short-term trade accounts receivable on balance sheet), due to continued high securitization volumes in the current quarter, which were executed for liquidity purposes. The liquidating portfolio, which includes trucking, franchise, manufactured housing, recreational vehicle and inventory finance loans, declined to $1.9 billion at June 30, 2002 from $2.2 billion at March 31, 2002.

 

Net Finance and Risk Adjusted Margins.

 

Net finance margin contracted during the current quarter to 4.11% from 4.98% in the prior quarter, reflecting the full impact of higher funding costs and maintaining excess balance sheet liquidity. This includes higher costs of replacing the commercial paper portfolio with higher cost bank loans and the issuance of $2.5 billion of 5 and 10 year term debt during the quarter.

 

Excluding the $260 million of reserving actions, risk adjusted margin was 2.98% for the current quarter compared to 3.87% in the quarter ended March 31, 2002 (also excluding the $95.0 million pre-tax Argentine provision recorded in that period).

 

Credit Quality.

 

Total 60+ day delinquencies as a percentage of finance receivables declined to $1.030 billion, 3.69% of finance receivables from $1.158 billion, 3.90%, at March 31, 2002. The decrease as measured in dollars from the prior quarter was due to improvements in most portfolios most notably the Equipment Financing and Leasing, Specialty Finance and Commercial Services portfolios. Managed 60+ day delinquencies similarly declined to $1.520 billion (3.74%) at June 30, 2002 from $1.680 billion (4.09%) at March 31, 2002.

 

Charge offs during the June quarter were $126.0 million, or 1.79% of average finance receivables, compared to $112.4 million, 1.58%, in March, and $156.7 million, 1.91%, in the comparable prior year period. Core chargeoffs, excluding the liquidating portfolios (trucking, franchise, manufactured housing, recreational vehicle and inventory finance loans), were $105.9 million, 1.59% in the June quarter, up from $75.2 million, 1.13%, in the quarter ended March 31, 2002. The increase in core chargeoffs is due to higher losses in the Equipment Financing portfolio, as equipment collateral values remain soft in the current economic environment, and higher losses in the commercial finance portfolio. Core chargeoffs in the prior year quarter, excluding special charges, were $77.2 million (0.94%).

 

Non-performing assets ended the quarter at $1.052 billion, 3.77% of finance receivables, up from $988 million, 3.32%, at March 31, 2002, reflecting a $60 million increase in CLEC/telecommunication assets on non-accrual status. The CLEC portfolio totals approximately $291 million at June 30, 2002, of which $100 million was on non-accrual status.

 

Total reserves for credit losses increased to $808.9 million, or 2.90% of finance receivables, from $554.9 million (2.11%) at March 31, 2002. Excluding the telecommunication and Argentine reserves, the reserve for credit losses was approximately 1.70% of finance receivables at both June and March 2002, up from 1.50% at June 30, 2001. Reserves relating to Argentina totaled $135 million at June 30, 2002, or approximately 75% of the total corresponding exposure. The $200 million telecommunication reserve relates primarily to the CLEC exposures in the portfolio.

 

Other Revenue.

 

Other revenue totaled $246.1 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2002, compared to $232.1 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2002 and $199.9 million (excluding special charges) in the corresponding prior year quarter. Securitization gains during the current quarter totaled $57.1 million, up $22.4 million from both the March 2002 and June 2001 quarters. These trends reflect the significant increase in securitization volume in both 2002 quarters to meet liquidity needs. Gains were higher in the current quarter due to strong market demand and deal execution. Factoring commissions improved seasonally and equipment sales gains were modest.

 

Salaries and General Operating Expenses.

 

Salaries and general operating expenses were $230.4 million for the quarter, compared to $226.9 million reported for the March 2002 quarter and down from $265.5 million in the June quarter last year. The increase from last quarter included higher collection costs and certain liquidation expenses, while the reduction from the prior year reflects restructuring initiatives following the Tyco acquisition. The efficiency ratio (salaries and general operating expenses divided by operating margin excluding provision for credit losses) improved to 38.3% as compared to 42.6% in the prior year's quarter, due primarily to higher fee income and lower employee costs. The current quarter efficiency ratio increased over the 33.4% reported for the March quarter, primarily due to the lower margin reflecting constrained growth and higher borrowing costs.

 

Headcount declined to approximately 5,935 employees from 6,235 as of March 31, 2002 and 7,255 the prior year. Operating expenses were 2.02% of average managed assets during the quarter, versus 2.09% core expenses reported for the comparable quarter of last year and 1.93% for the March 2002 quarter.

 

Capitalization and Leverage.

 

CIT continued to maintain strong capitalization and leverage ratios. The company's ratio of tangible equity to managed assets improved to 9.25% as of June 30, 2002, compared to 8.62% in the prior year quarter and 9.14% as of March 31, 2002. On July 12, 2002, as part of the company's IPO, the underwriters exercised their over-allotment option to purchase an additional 11.6 million shares of CIT stock for approximately $255 million. These proceeds will further strengthen our capitalization ratios.

 

 (Full Report and Financial Statements available at:

   http://www.cit.com/news_center/DisplayQuarterlyResults.asp)

 

 

Jeff Taylor:" I Regret Sitting for the CLP Exam Next Month"

 

    from the $4,000 a Day Lease Trainer Popular  Newsletter

 

 

“Lease Training for the Leasing Professionals”

 

http://executivecaliber.ws/sys-tmpl/clp/

 

I find it ironic that I am sitting for the Certified Leasing Professional (CLP) exam in San Diego next month at the United Association of Equipment Leasing Annual Meeting. I heard that 8-10 people are sitting and, if they are like me, they are probably nervous. Considering that I am a professional lease trainer, I cannot afford to blow it.

 

The last major exam, which I sat for, was my CPA exam back in 1978. Since then I have had to routinely re-take a drivers license exam every five years and go to the doctor every year for a physical exam (I am at the age where he does things to me that you do not want to know about). None of those distasteful experiences comes up to the level of fear and anxiety of taking a peer-authorized exam.

 

Steve Geller, Cindy Spurdle and Alison Pryor encouraged me to take the exam. They told me that it would bring me more clients and add a level of cachet to my personality (only kidding).

 

In order to study for the exam, I paid $55.00 for a book called The Leasing Professionals’ Handbook (Second Edition copyright 1995). On page 5 they list the names of the authors who wrote the book. I found it interesting that I know a lot of the people listed in the special acknowledgements section. In particular, I have met or am very familiar with Ken Goodman, Ken Greene (no relationship), Bob Rodi, and Bob Teichman (no relationship).

 

From my viewpoint, the book appears to have been written by a group of dedicated volunteers. How do I know that? Each chapter is written by an expert in his or her particular style and no one edited the book for consistency, style and duplication. In other words, it is a compilation not a training manual.

 

I understand that the UAEL used to own the CLP exam but transferred it to the CLP foundation which now provides CLP services to UAEL, EAEL and NAELB. Having been a long time member of the Equipment Leasing Association (ELA), I am quite surprised that they have not joined forces in supporting or updating the exam. It is something that ELA should consider.

 

Since the book is fairly lengthy (259 pages), I decided to read the book on an airplane from Salt Lake City (where I live) to New York (where I grew up and have family). After I finished the book, my stomach snarled. While putting down the book (and asking the flight attendant for my favorite drink) I realized that 14 authors wrote 14 distinct and uncoordinated chapters. In fact, sometimes the authors asked questions that were never answered anywhere else in the book.

 

Nonetheless, the impact of reading a 7-year old book startled me. Look at all of the changes that have occurred in our industry over the last seven years:

 

 

Bush got elected

Clinton got fired

Synthetic leases are under attack

SPEs are under attack

Off balance sheet financing is under attack

FASB is going head to head with the IASB

Arthur Andersen is out of business

Enron is out of business

Dennis Kozlowski is going to jail (someday)

 

What concerns me now is being tested on leasing history. I was never good at history, especially remembering dates and names. In the book, they refer to the Philadelphia Plan, the great Depression, closed end leases, PMSI, and California law. How am I supposed to remember this level of minutiae? Where are my Cliff notes? Can I use my calculator?

 

What if they ask me questions on ethics? What were the correct answers back in 1995? Will the proctor grade me on current methodologies and philosophies or use the benchmarks that existed with our leasing forefathers?

 

I feel prepared yet nervous. I plan to take the 1-day summary class on Thursday, October 3, 2002 at the UAEL convention. I am sure that I know my material, but you never know.

 

Jeffrey Taylor

 JTaylor@executivecaliber.ws

 

( (  ExcutiveCaliber has a mailing list of 14,500 compared to Leasing News

5,000 +-  (when working, right now we are blacklisted by 1200 subscribers’

carriers  )Jeff Taylor will be holding a workshop at the San Diego UAEL Conference at 9:45am, unfortunately it is opposite the “Top Gun” Leasing Salesmen Panel that I am the

moderator, otherwise, I certainly would not want to miss this $4,000 a day leasing

sales trainer.

 

To learn more about the CLP Foundation, please go here:

 

http://www.leasingnews.org/links_10.htm

 

I should mention a lot of the book that Jeff is referring to was written or edited by

Bob Teichman, CLP,  who is also a lease educator, director of UAEL and also Leasing

News. I believe Bob donated his time as the CLP group never had any money

and everything was donated.  Maybe Jeff and a group could get together and

work on a new edition. Kit Menkin,  Editor )

 

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CSI Acquires German IT Lessor

 

Creve Coeur-based Computer Sales International, Inc. (CSI) announced that it has entered into a binding agreement to acquire Panthus Leasing GmbH, headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany. CSI has already completed its due diligence investigation and the purchase is expected to close this week. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

 

Like CSI, Panthus specializes in the leasing of information technology equipment to large businesses. Panthus, formerly known as Universal Computer Leasing, has been in the leasing business for over 20 years, employing 29 people with offices in Berlin as well as Frankfurt. In 2000, Panthus was purchased by a large German computer distributor m+s Elektronik AG. But early this year m+s was declared insolvent and was forced to put its subsidiaries up for sale.

 

"We look upon this as a unique opportunity to enter the German market with an experienced administrative and sales team and a sizeable portfolio of leases with a high-quality customer base," announced Steve Hamilton, CSI's executive vice president and director of acquisitions and international operations. Hamilton also noted that, "Germany is the largest IT market in Europe, accounting for roughly 33% of all IT spending in the European Union, and many of CSI's US-based customers have operations there, so we believe this is a good fit and will provide a new growth opportunity for CSI." Panthus will do business under the new name CSI Leasing Deutschland GmbH.

 

More information on CSI is available at www.csileasing.com.

 

Kropschot Financial Services initiated this transaction and represented creditors of the seller in the CSI acquisition of Panthus Leasing GmbH.

 

Bruce Kropschot

bkropschot@aol.com

Kropschot Financial Services

116 Estuary Drive

Vero Beach, FL 32963

(772) 234-4544

 

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KEY EQUIPMENT FINANCE NAMED LEASING PARTNER

FOR LUCENT TECHNOLOGIES BUSINESS PARTNERS IN EUROPE

 

SUPERIOR, Colo., USA  ­ Key Equipment Finance, one of

the nation¹s largest bank-affiliated equipment financing companies and an

affiliate of KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY), today announced that it has been selected

by Lucent Technologies as the primary leasing partner for Lucent channel

partners in Europe.

 

Through this new agreement ­ which is expected to bring Key Equipment

Finance annual originations of at least $50 million ­ Key Equipment Finance

will provide financing to European end user customers or Lucent¹s Advantage

BusinessPartners who resell telecommunications and networking equipment.

 

A lease option provides end-user customers with tax benefits, upgrade

flexibility and better asset management, in addition to a lower cost of

acquisition.  Companies that provide this service often see an increase in

sales and an improvement in margins by reducing the amount of time between

when a sale closes and when a company receives payment.

 

Key Equipment Finance has significant experience with vendor leasing

programs and a wide reach across all of Europe.  The company employs a staff

of more than 130 people in the region.

 

"When purchasing complex telecommunications and networking equipment,

customers need a simple financing solution," said Nicolaas Rauwenhoff, vice

president of the BusinessPartner Group, Lucent Europe.  "Key Equipment

Finance, as demonstrated through its international reach and experience in

the vendor leasing market, will help us to provide the right financing

options to our customers"

 

Lucent is working with Key Equipment Finance in order to offer a full

solution to its business partners.  The financial relationship is between

Key Equipment Finance and either the end-user customer or the Advantage

BusinessPartner with no recourse to Lucent on the financing.

 

"By providing a lease option to its European Advantage BusinessPartners,

Lucent is taking its commitment to being a total solutions provider one step

further," said Karen Larson, president and COO of Key Equipment Finance¹s

global vendor services group. "Customers throughout Europe will realize this

commitment through their ability to secure Lucent¹s highly acclaimed

products with the maximum flexibility in terms of payment terms, upgrades

and add-ons that are so essential in today¹s ever-changing technology

marketplace."

 

About Lucent Technologies

 

Lucent¹s Global Business Partners Group works with resellers, distributors

and systems integrators to sell Lucent¹s products and services to

enterprises, small service providers and government entities.  For more

information on the Advantage BusinessPartner program or to locate a

BusinessPartner, visit the Web site at

http://www.lucent.com/businesspartner.

 

Lucent Technologies, headquartered in Murray Hill, N.J., USA, designs and

delivers networks for the world's largest communications service providers.

Backed by Bell Labs research and development, Lucent relies on its strengths

in mobility, optical, data and voice networking technologies as well as

software and services to develop next-generation networks. The company's

systems, services and software are designed to help customers quickly deploy

and better manage their networks and create new, revenue-generating services

that help businesses and consumers. For more information on Lucent

Technologies, visit its Web site at http://www.lucent.com.

 

About Key Equipment Finance

Key Equipment Finance provides business-to-business equipment financing

solutions to: small businesses in the U.S.; mid-to-large size businesses in

the U.S. and Canada; the customers of equipment manufacturers, distributors

and value-added resellers worldwide; and federal, state and local government

as well as other public sector organizations. Headquartered near Boulder,

Colo., Key Equipment Finance has been in the equipment finance business for

nearly 30 years and has a presence in 25 countries, with major operations in

Albany, London, Toronto, and Sydney. The company employs more than 600

people worldwide and manages an $8 billion equipment portfolio with annual

originations of nearly $3 billion. Additional information is available at

http://www.KEFonline.com.

 

About KeyCorp

Ohio-based KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) is one of the United States¹ largest

bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $83

billion. Key companies provide investment management, retail and commercial

banking, retirement, consumer finance, and investment banking products and

services to individuals and companies throughout the United States and, for

certain businesses, internationally. The company's businesses deliver their

products and services through KeyCenters and offices; a network of

approximately 2,400 ATMs; telephone banking centers ; and a Web site,

Key.com, that provides account access and financial products 24 hours a day.

 

# # #

 

CONTACT: Cori Keeton

         Barnhart/CMI

        (303) 626-7248

        corik@barnhartcmi.com

 

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"Frontier Leasing Preps Third Equipment ABS Via WestLB"

 

Asset Securitization Report

 

Sources say that Frontier Leasing is selling some $50 million of

small- and middle-ticket equipment lease-backed paper through

WestLB to pay down a multi-year warehousing facility; the

facility, set up by WestLB, is used by Frontier for interim

funding of eligible lease contracts and financed equipment.  The

fixed-rate offering includes three classes, with credit support

from the subordination of certificated classes, funds on deposit,

and overcollateralization.  Frontier sold equipment lease ABS

twice in the last few years and intends to issue on an annual

basis.  The company originates and services equipment leases to

small and mid-sized businesses, and the equipment it leases is

highly specialized.  For transactions over $250,000, it acts as a

credit lender.

 

ABSNet provides the industry's most comprehensive database of ABS deal performance data. Once issued, ABS collateral will under or outperform assumptions made at origination. Standard & Poor's and Fitch rely on ABSNet to support their surveillance process and hundreds of investors, issuers, and other market participants monitor deal performance using ABSNet. ABSNet has you COVERED with...

 

The Industry's largest ABS performance database spanning over 700 Issuers, 5,000 deals, and 30,000 bonds.

 

The Industry's deepest database with current and historical performance statistics, tracking over 100 performance variables per deal. Our database includes years of history, often inception to date, as well as deal notes, prospectuses, and servicer reports.

Library of over 3,600 servicer reports online.

 

Information on the underlying collateral pool and credit support facilities.

Pre-defined views at the deal, class, and pool level. ABSNet Deal Summaries provide a snapshot of deal information, while ABSNet Performance Data views offer a more in-depth analysis of selected variables. You can define and save your own views from ABSNet's extensive library of performance variables.

 

All of the data associated with a deal can be graphed instantly for a quick visual analysis, or exported to third-party applications such as Microsoft Excel.

 

http://www.absnet.net

 

From: Industry News Weekly is free to ELA members.

Copyright 2002 by the Equipment Leasing Association http://www.elaonline.com/

Phone: 703/527-8655 Fax: 703/527-2649

 

If you have other questions or comments relating to Industry News Weekly,

please email Amy J. Miller, Vice-President of Communications, at

amiller@elamail.com.

 

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Please send to a colleague as they may not be receiving our e-mail since

many carriers are considering Leasing News as Spam ( must be from

one of those companies who we made give back the Advance Rental

for the deal they did not fund.

 

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eLNA----Lessors.com  White Page Listing Subscription $50 a Year

 

. Renewal Notice - Your White Pages Listing Has Expired

If your customers can't find you, they're not your customers!

 

Your current White Pages listing from the Lessors Network has expired and is scheduled to be removed from the White Pages

directory the end of this month. We invite you to renew your listing today to avoid interruption of service.

 

To view your current White Page listing, please follow these simple instruction:

 

1) Click http://www.lessors.com

2) Type your email address and enter The Lessors Network

3) From the left side of the page, click “White Pages”

4) Scroll down the page until you find your listing.

 

As the Lessors Network White Pages is the only Internet directory providing access to your contact data (email address and

telephone numbers), we're sure you will want to renew your listing today. Not having a White Pages listing is like having an

unlisted telephone number for your business...not a great idea!

 

Annual White Pages listings cost  just $50 (about $4.00 per month) and make it easy for customers to find you. Members of the

Lessors Networking Association (LNA) confirmed (paid) for the 2003 Membership Period receive complimentary White and

Yellow Pages listings with their membership. - To join LNA, visit - http://www.lessors.com.

 

To avoid interruption of your White Page listing, please follow these simple instruction:

 

1) Click http://www.lessors.com

2) Type your email address and enter The Lessors Network

3) From the left side of the page, click “White Pages”

4) From the navigation bar at the top of the page, click “Renew | Edit Your Listing”

5) Complete the information required and click “Submit”

 

You will be delivered to an online invoice with payment instructions.

 

Remember, if your customers can't find you, they're not your customers!

 

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Fleet Capital Leasing's Vendor Finance Division Selects CapitalStream's FinanceCenter(TM)

 

 

CapitalStream Provides Real-Time, Business Rules Based, Process 

 

Management for Fleet's Vendor Finance Strategic Business Unit

 

SEATTLE, -- CapitalStream (www.CapitalStream.com), a Seattle-based provider of business and commercial credit automation technology for the Financial Services Industry, today announced Fleet Capital Leasing's Vendor Finance Division as its newest customer to implement FinanceCenter, CapitalStream's flexible technology platform.  Fleet Capital Leasing chose CapitalStream's solution to allow its Vendor Finance middle market lease origination team to manage its customer relationships in a much more efficient manner.

 

FinanceCenter provides business credit origination and workflow automation in a single solution that delivers real-time, collaborative decisioning, documentation management and workflow automation capabilities. CapitalStream's end-to-end solution automates all business credit processes from quote, submittal, and schedule creation and maintenance, to the generation of a credit offering memorandum, credit approval process, and the uploading of funding information to Fleet's portfolio management platform.

 

George Lehnertz, division president and CEO of Fleet's Global Vendor Finance Division, said, "Fleet's goal was to provide a powerful suite of management tools to our clients, and the Capital Stream solution does that."

 

"By providing a superior level of access to information, our clients are better able to manage their sales and funding operations."

 

"We believe these changes reflect our continuing commitment to the world class service we offer our clients; however, there are many internal benefits as well," Lehnertz pointed out. "The process management features of the Capital Stream product have enabled us to streamline handling routines. "That translates into cost savings for Fleet and more importantly, faster and more accurate service to our clients."

 

"Global Vendor Finance," said Lehnertz, "has been recognized as an industry service leader for years, and these tools will help us maintain that competitive edge."