Action Plan on Building a Capital Markets Union: EU securitisation framework: Initial Appraisal of a European Commission Impact Assessment

Briefing 09-11-2015

This briefing seeks to provide an initial analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the European Commission's Impact Assessment (IA) accompanying two Commission proposals for Regulations referred to Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs : Regulation laying down common rules on securitisation and creating a European framework for simple, transparent and standardised securitisation (COM (2015) 472); and Regulation amending Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 on prudential requirements for credit institutions and investment firms (COM (2015) 473) Securitisation refers to the process of packaging and converting loans into securities that can be sold to investors. The Commission recognises that securitisation of US subprime mortgages was one of the causes of the last financial crisis, but believes that properly structured securitisation can play a positive role in the EU economy. These are the first two legislative proposals of the Action Plan on Building a Capital Markets Union, one of the Commission's key priorities, aimed at strengthening the links between savings and growth. The European Parliament resolution of 9 July 2015 on Building a Capital Markets Union expressed support for an initiative in this field, as part of a broad variety of avenues to be explored to improve SME financing.