18 October 2017

Regulation for common rules on securitisation and framework for STS securitisation – draft text

The Union aims to strengthen the legislative framework implemented after the financial crisis to address the risks inherent in highly complex, opaque and risky securitisation. It is essential to ensure that rules are adopted to better differentiate simple, transparent and standardised products from complex, opaque and risky instruments and to apply a more risk-sensitive prudential framework.

Securitisation is an important element of well-functioning financial markets. Soundly structured securitisation is an important channel for diversifying funding sources and allocating risk more widely within the Union financial system. It allows for a broader distribution of financial-sector risk and can help free up originators' balance sheets to allow for further lending to the economy. Overall, it can improve efficiencies in the financial system and provide additional investment opportunities. Securitisation can create a bridge between credit institutions and capital markets with an indirect benefit for businesses and citizens (through, for example, less expensive loans and business financing, and credits for immovable property and credit cards). Nevertheless, this Regulation recognises the risks of increased interconnectedness and of excessive leverage that securitisation raises, and enhances the microprudential supervision by competent authorities of a financial institution's participation in the securitisation market, as well as the macroprudential oversight of that market by the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB), established by Regulation (EU) No 1092/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council1 , and by the national competent and designated authorities for macroprudential instruments.

This Regulation introduces a ban on resecuritisation, subject to derogations for certain cases of resecuritisations that are used for legitimate purposes and to clarifications as to whether asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) programmes are considered to be resecuritisations. Resecuritisations could hinder the level of transparency that this Regulation seeks to establish. Nevertheless, resecuritisations can, in exceptional circumstances, be useful in preserving the interests of investors. Therefore, resecuritisations should only be permitted in specific instances as established by this Regulation. In addition, it is important for the financing of the real economy that fully supported ABCP programmes that do not introduce any re-tranching on top of the transactions funded by the programme remain outside the scope of the ban on resecuritisation.

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