On Monday 13 October, MEPs on the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Financial Affairs (ECON) debated a revision of the regulatory framework for securitisation in the EU, proposed by the European Commission in June to deepen the Capital Markets Union (CMU) (see EUROPE 13661/26).
The EU institution is proposing to adapt the rules stemming from the 2008 financial crisis in order to stimulate this still small market in Europe, and to mobilise more private financial resources to finance the ‘green’, digital and social transitions.
However, Julia Symon, Head of Research and Advocacy at Finance Watch expressed her reservations about this approach. “The potential of securitisation to advance the stated goals of the European Union and the Capital Markets Union and to contribute financing to the real economy is, from our perspective, doubtful and very limited”, she said.
“There is no mechanism to monitor whether banks direct any additional lending made possible by securitizations towards EU priorities, households or businesses, and the Commission’s proposal does not introduce any such measures”, she added, warning against a relaxation that could increase leveraged debt and transfer risks to less regulated financial players.
The Managing Director of ‘True Sale International’ Jan-Peter Hülbert, defended a “more proportionate and risk-sensitive” approach. Mr Hülbert pointed out that securitisation links bank financing to the capital markets, using public and private asset-backed securities.
Shaun Baddeley, Director General of Securitisation at the Association of Financial Markets in Europe (AFME), welcomed the European Commission’s proposal, saying that adjusting prudential requirements could more than double funding capacity and open up significant risk transfer transactions.
For his part, Francesco Mazzaferro, an expert from the European Systemic Risk Board, supported the European Commission’s objective of simplification, but warned that the concept of “resilient securitisation” would become more complex and that there would be concentration risks associated with unfunded guarantees granted by insurers.
Several MEPs highlighted the lack of quantified targets and questioned the real impact on SMEs, which are heavily dependent on bank credit.
A draft report from the European Parliament, led by Ralf Seekatz (EPP, German), will be presented to the ECON Committee in January 2026. (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)