A unified set of standards for the European Residential Mortgage Backed Securitisation (RMBS) market has been published by the European Securitisation Forum (ESF), the representative body of the industry in Europe.
The aim of the standards is to report on performance of deals over their life times, in order to improve efficiency and transparency, as at present, European issuers use different reporting standards, which makes it difficult for investors to compare deals.
As a result, investors have been looking for better information for several years, to help them track performance of the collateral backing their bonds.
Investor Ray Wyer, head of asset-backed securities (ABS) with Bank of Ireland, is delighted with the development. He said, ‘The standards are absolutely crucial, as they set a base-line that everyone must adhere to’.
RMBS is the largest securitisation sector in Europe, and in 2005, issuance totalled €143 billion, with 45 per cent of all deals coming from the UK. Ireland saw two RMBS deals over the past 12 months, by frequent issuer First Active under its Celtic programme, and by newcomer Start Mortgages. |
