New lobby group to defend securitisation markets

As pressure for reform in the securitisation market grows, three regional industry lobbying groups - the American Securitisation Forum (ASF), the European Securitisation Forum (ESF) and the Securities Industry and Futures Markets Association (Sifma) - have banded together to protect the market against regulatory pressure.

The new group, the Joint Securitisation Markets Working Group, will be led by TIAA-CREF's head of global public markets, Sanjeev Handa, and Citi's co-head of global securitised markets, Jeffrey Perlowitz.

The group is surveying Sifma, ESF and Australian Securitisation Forum members, as well as some non-member banks, and plans to produce a white paper in August or September this year listing their concerns. The aim is to meet regulatory concerns about the lack of market discipline and transparency in the securitisation market, while still ensuring the market can flourish.

Regulatory attention has focused on the securitisation market in the wake of the credit crisis, with groups such as the International Organisation of Securities Commissions calling for better understanding of the risks involved and more conservative treatment by rating agencies. This week's announcement is a response to a call from the US President's Working Group on Financial Markets for a private-sector group to spread best practice on transparency in securitisation, the group said.

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