The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) today closed on a sale of notes backed by residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) from seven failed bank receiverships. The news of the closing, summarized in an FDIC press release today, marks the first official release of information on $1.8bn of structured notes that roadshowed and priced in recent weeks. The FDIC also illustrated the structure of the transaction: The sale was conducted through a private placement priced and allocated on March 5th. FDIC said it received “robust investor demand” in response to the transaction, with more than 70 investors — including banks, investment funds, insurance funds and pension funds — participating across fixed- and floating-rate series. Barclays Capital served as the sole bookrunner, structuring agent and financial advisor on the platform, called Structured Sale of Guaranteed Notes (SSGN 2010-S1). The timely payment of principal and interest due on the notes are guaranteed by the FDIC, and that guaranty is backed by the full faith and credit of the US government. This offering marks the first issuance of notes by the FDIC since the early 1990s and the first issuance of FDIC-guaranteed debt backed by the full faith and credit of the US. The $1.81bn of notes is backed by 103 non-agency RMBS. The aggregate unpaid balance of the 103 securities was approximately $3.6 billion at the time of the sale. The FDIC retained an equity interest in each series. The transaction features two series of senior notes, each backed by a separate pool of RMBS. The larger series of approximately $1.3bn is based on option adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) and has a floating rate tied to the one-month LIBOR. The smaller series of $480m is based mostly on fixed-rate RMBS and pays a fixed rate. Both series priced at rates comparable to Ginnie Mae collateralized mortgage obligations. The issuance “significantly oversubscribed,” FDIC said, allowing the transaction to price at lower spreads to benchmark rates. The $1.33bn series priced at 55bps over Libor, 10bps tighter than earlier guidance. The class of $480m of notes priced at 85bps over Libor, 5-10bps tighter than guidance. The $1.8bn in proceeds will go to the seven failed bank receiverships and eventually be used to pay creditors, including the FDIC’s Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF). FDIC said this should maximize recoveries for the receiverships and recover substantial funds for the DIF while also meeting strong investor demand. Write to Diana Golobay.