Financing for an On-Demand World: Where Technology and Strategy Intersect
By John Callies, General Manager, IBM Global Financing
The IT needs of today's companies begin where technology meets business insight. Yet as today's businesses increasingly rely on sophisticated technology solutions, they are discovering that in addition to their business process and infrastructure investments, there is a third dimension that is helping them transform into on-demand businesses: financing. (Ref #CML042)

The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention & Consumer Protection Act:
What Lessors Need to Know
By Claudia Z. Springer, Partner and Scott Esterbrook, Associate, Reed Smith LLP
On April 20, 2005, President Bush signed the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, which is perhaps the most sweeping change to the Bankruptcy Code since its enactment in 1978. While most commentators have focused on the changes to provisions related to consumer bankruptcies, the legislation modifies the code in many ways, some of which impact parties to personal property leases. (Ref #LGL1046)

From Both Sides of the Syndication Desk…
Questions Buyers & Sellers Are Asking These Days
By Scott Kiley, Vice President, Fifth Third Leasing Company
The top five questions the leading buyers and syndicators are asking themselves - and equally important, the answers to these questions - provide the best insight into the current state of the large bank funding market and indirect originations activity in the upper middle market and investment grade arena. (Ref #SYN011)

Today More Than Ever-Advocacy is Critical to Our Industry's Longevity
By Paul A. Larkins, President & CEO, Key Equipment Finance
Environments change, and they change quickly, emphasizing the fact that advocacy is critical to the ongoing success of the leasing industry. And even though recent economic indicators may be showing that conditions are improving for lessors, it is important not to be lulled into complacency. In the following, Paul Larkins, the chairman-elect of the board of directors of the Equipment Leasing Association, discusses how lessors can work together toward a single end. (Ref #ASC005)

Requiem for Large Synthetic Leases…
Have the FASB and SEC Finally Killed Them Off?
By James Hershberger, Principal, Hook Mountain Consulting
The Financial Accounting Standards Board has been trying to eliminate synthetic leases for 10 years by issuing exposure drafts intended to require consolidation of special-purpose entities onto lessee balance sheets. Then, with the releases of FIN 45 and FIN 46, the board believed that a stake had finally been driven through the heart of the synthetic lease. Was all of this a deathblow to synthetic leasing? (Ref #LTL014)

Musings of an Equipment Manager — Sarbox, Basel II Move to the Foreground
By William Tefft, SVP, ORIX Financial Services
At a recent industry conference, ORIX Financial's Will Tefft was surprised to find the golf course free and clear while the Sarbanes Oxley sessions were standing room only. To what can we attribute this miracle? Clearly, Sarbox is rapidly reaching the asset management department and is going to become an area of more intense focus in the future. (Ref #EQM133)

The 12 Secrets of Commercial Credit Scoring:
Confessions of a Closet Quant Jock (Part I)
By Thomas E. Ware, SVP, PayNet
In this, the first part of a three-part series, PayNet's Tom Ware divulges the 12 secrets of commercial credit scoring. A self-admitted closeted "quant jock," Tom's confessions move the topic from the realm of the arcane to the world of clarity. Parts II and III will appear in upcoming issues of the Monitor. (Ref #CRD072)

Lease Securitization: New Challenges For Issuers — Part I
By Peter Humphreys and Howard Mulligan, Partners, McDermott Will & Emery
The following article discusses some recent trends in equipment lease securitizations and the benefits to, and challenges for, an originator considering the securitization of equipment lease receivables. The first half of this series will cover topics ranging from the benefits of securitization to underwriting and servicing issues. Part II will appear in the July-August issue of the Monitor. (Ref #SEC077)