A $97.25 million credit card securitisation has been finalised by Garanti Bankasi. The seven-year financing was structured by Citicorp Securities, and placed by Citibank.

The oversubscribed transaction involves a securitisation of Garanti's future US dollar receivables due from Visa International.

Europay International, and MasterCard International. Certificates carrying a fixed rate of interest were issued from a US trust in a private placement with institutional investors, including life insurance companies and pension funds, in the US and Japan. The certificates carry an 'A' assessment from US ratings agency Duff & Phelps.

The yield to investors is 2.4 per cent over the five-year US Treasury rate, or the equivalent of 7.83 per cent annually. The final maturity of the transaction is seven years, with a five-year average life, and including a one-year grace period in the repayment of principal.

This is the second such financing concluded by Garanti, and represents the only securitisation originating from Turkey brought successfully to the