Westcorp Announces Issuance of $500 Million in Privately Placed Notes

4 October 1999

Westcorp Announces Issuance of $500 Million in Privately Placed Notes

    IRVINE, Calif.--Sept. 30, 1999--Westcorp , the financial services holding company whose principal subsidiaries are WFS Financial Inc and Western Financial Bank announced today that it has issued $500 million in notes to Receivables Capital Corp., a conduit facility administered by Bank of America, NA, in a private placement through WFS' wholly-owned subsidiary, WFS Funding, Inc.
    The Notes were issued by an owner trust created by WFS Funding, WFS Funding Owner Trust 1999-A. The Notes are rated AAA by Standard & Poor's and Aaa by Moody's. Timely principal and interest payments on the Notes are guaranteed by an insurance policy provided by Financial Security Assurance Inc.
    The ratings by each Rating Agency of the Notes is based on the issuance of the insurance policy by FSA. The offering was managed for WFS and WFS Funding by Banc of America Securities LLC.
    "This private placement provides us with greater flexibility as it relates to liquidity as it offers us an attractive alternative to the public asset-backed market at a time when asset-backed securitizations have been adversely affected by wider spreads and higher pricing," said Joy Schaefer, chief executive officer of WFS.
    Westcorp, through its subsidiary, WFS, is one of the nation's largest independent automobile finance companies. WFS specializes in originating, securitizing, and servicing new and used automobile contracts through its nationwide relationship of automobile dealers. WFS provides an alternative source of financing for borrowers in the prime and non-prime credit quality sectors.
    WFS currently services over $5.0 billion of automobile contracts. Prospectuses, Servicer Reports and other performance information for each of WFS' public automobile asset-backed securities can be found at the company's web site at http://www.wfsfinancial.com.
    Westcorp, through its subsidiary, Western Financial Bank, operates 25 retail bank branches throughout California, and provides commercial banking services in Southern California. Western Financial Bank maintains a web site at http://www.wfb.com that contains further information on the products and services offered by the company.