Abstract: One system for forming a consolidated commercial paper issue includes: a plurality of borrowers, with each borrower having a short-term borrowing need; a credit rating agency operable to determine a credit rating for each borrower; a consolidator operable to aggregate the short-term borrowing needs of at least two borrowers into a consolidated commercial paper issue; and a communication network operable to transmit communications between one or more of the credit rating agency, the consolidator, and at least one of the borrowers. One method of forming a consolidated commercial paper issue includes: identifying a plurality of borrowers, with each borrower having a short-term borrowing need; determining a credit rating for each borrower; and aggregating the short-term borrowing needs of at least two borrowers into a consolidated commercial paper issue.