Aussie home, auto lenders to hold UK conference

SYDNEY, Sept 9 (Reuters) - A group of Australian mortgage
lenders and auto-loan companies will hold a one-day conference
in London on Sept 15 to update investors on their businesses,
two market sources said.

The group, which includes Members Equity Bank and Macquarie
Securitisation, a unit of Macquarie Group (MQG.AX), is expected
to meet around 50 European investors.

The names of the other lenders were not available.

Macquarie Debt Markets, which is sponsoring the event,
declined to comment.

Offshore issuance of Australian residential mortgage-backed
securities (RMBS) dropped 100 percent this year as mortgages
have become unpopular for many credit institutions in the wake
of the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis.

St. George Bank SGB.AX was the last Australian borrower
to have sold a non-Australian dollar RMBS issue. The issue,
called Crusade Euro Trust No.1E of 2007, was sold in June 2007
and included a 500 million euro ($704 million) tranche.

Auto-loan backed bonds are unusual in Australia where
residential mortgage-backed securities make up more than 80
percent of asset-backed issues.

However, since the global credit crisis hit, auto-loan
issues have gained popularity, with A$2.1 billion ($1.7
billion) sold this year.
($1=1.234 Australian Dollar)
($1=.7103 Euro)

(Reporting by Cecile Lefort)