Watching the Clock: ARDs and Refinancings in Whole Business Securitizations

Anticipated repayment dates (ARD) are a key structural feature in whole business securitization (WBS) transactions and represent the point at which issuers are generally expected to address their outstanding notes coming due, most often through refinancing. While WBS transactions typically have long legal final maturities of up to 30 years, ARDs are commonly set five to seven years after issuance and are designed to incentivize refinancing rather than extension. In practice, ARDs serve as a key reference point for evaluating capital structure sustainability and the issuer’s underlying operating performance.

Across the KBRA-rated WBS sector,¹ a meaningful share of series (representing more than 20% of the total population based on original note balance) are approaching their ARDs within the next one to two years. While less than $2.3 billion of notes have ARDs in 2026, more than $5.6 billion are scheduled to reach their ARDs in 2027. Given the…