ABN Amro has completed a US$200mn cross-border trade receivables securitisation programme for Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Group (ASE), the world’s largest provider of independent semiconductor manufacturing services in assembly and test.

The transaction is thought to be the first cross-border trade receivables securitisation out of Taiwan for a Taiwanese corporate and involves the sale of trade receivables from ASE Group to an asset-backed commercial paper conduit which funds the purchase in the US commercial paper market.

Matthew Liaw, head of fixed income capital markets at ABN Amro in Taiwan, says: “This transaction is representative of the growing sophistication and evolution of funding requirements by local corporates. More technology issuers are expected to use securitisation as a funding alternative.”

With a cross-border structure, ABN Amro was able to overlay a hedge into the programme that afforded ASE greater funding benefits, claims the bank.

Joseph Tung, chief financial officer for ASE, says: “We see asset securitisation as not only a financing technique with the flexibility to meet our working capital requirements but also as a risk management tool to better manage our corporate exposures and strengthen our operational efficiency. This transaction also demonstrates our ability to access international capital through various funding alternatives.”