California Republic Bank Completes First Auto Securitization

California Republic Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of California Republic Bancorp, completed its first securitization of nearly $183 million in prime indirect automobile loans yesterday.

The transaction of $182.56 million in notes backed by CRB’s auto loans were sold to institutional buyers in a private offering.

Through the private placement deal, CRB also sold all its remaining residual interests in the receivables via a sale of the underlying ownership certificates of the securitization trust. The bank will continue to service underlying receivables on behalf of noteholders and certificateholders.

“This is an important milestone for our company,” CEO Jon Wilcox said in the announcement. “It reflects the strong growth in our indirect automobile platform since its start in July 2011.”

California Republic Bank provides loans, deposit and cash management services to consumers, companies, and their owners throughout Southern California. It has three regional branch hubs in Newport Beach, Beverly Hills, and Westlake Village. CRB also has an indirect auto finance division headquartered in Irvine, which purchases automobile installment sale contracts from franchised and independent car dealerships.