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Variable Interest Entities (Disclosure)
9 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
Variable Interest Entity Consolidated Carrying Amount Assets And Liabilities [Abstract]  
Variable Interest Entities Disclosure Text Block

Note 11 – Variable Interest Entities

 

We use one or more special purpose entities that are considered variable interest entities (“VIEs”) to issue asset-backed securities to third party bank-sponsored asset-backed securitization vehicles and to investors in securitization transactions. The securities issued by these VIEs are backed by the cash flows from finance receivables that have been transferred to the VIEs. Although the transferred finance receivables have been legally sold to the VIEs, we hold variable interests in the VIEs that could potentially be significant to the VIEs. We determined that we are the primary beneficiary of the securitization trusts because (i) our servicing responsibilities for the transferred receivables give us the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the performance of the VIEs, and (ii) our variable interests in the VIEs give us the obligation to absorb losses and the right to receive residual returns that could potentially be significant.

 

The assets of the consolidated securitization VIEs consisted of $9,911 million and $11,546 million in gross retail finance receivables at December 31, 2011 and March 31, 2011, respectively. Net retail finance receivables, after consideration of deferred origination costs, unearned income and allowance for credit losses, were $9,742 million and $11,317 million as of December 31, 2011 and March 31, 2011, respectively. In addition, TMCC held $598 million and $705 million in cash which represent collections from the underlying pledged receivables and certain reserve deposits held for the securitization trusts at December 31, 2011 and March 31, 2011, respectively. We classified this cash as restricted cash on our consolidated balance sheet. The liabilities of these consolidated VIEs consisted of $8,879 million and $10,626 million in secured debt, net of $548 million and $577 million of securities retained by TMCC, and $3 million and $3 million in other liabilities at December 31, 2011 and March 31, 2011. The assets of the VIEs and the restricted cash held by TMCC serve as the sole source of repayment for the asset-backed securities issued by these entities. Investors in the notes issued by the VIEs do not have recourse to TMCC's general credit, with the exception of customary representation and warranty repurchase provisions and indemnities.

 

As the primary beneficiary of these entities, we are exposed to credit, interest rate, and prepayment risk from the receivables transferred to the VIEs. However, our exposure to these risks did not change as a result of the transfer of the assets to the VIEs. We may also be exposed to interest rate risk arising from the secured notes issued by the VIEs.

 

In addition, we entered into interest rate swaps with certain special purpose entities that issue variable rate debt. Under the terms of these swaps, the securitization trusts are obligated to pay TMCC a fixed rate of interest on certain payment dates in exchange for receiving a floating rate of interest on amounts equal to the outstanding balance of the secured debt. This arrangement enables the securitization trusts to mitigate the interest rate risk inherent in issuing variable rate debt that is secured by fixed rate retail finance receivables.

 

The transfers of the receivables to the special purpose entities in our securitizations are considered to be sales for legal purposes. However, the securitized assets and the related debt remain on our Consolidated Balance Sheet. We recognize financing revenue on the pledged receivables and interest expense on the secured debt issued by the trusts. We also maintain an allowance for credit losses on the pledged receivables to cover probable credit losses estimated using a methodology consistent with that used for our non-securitized retail loan portfolio. The interest rate swaps between TMCC and the special purpose entities are considered intercompany transactions and therefore are eliminated in our consolidated financial statements.