Regulatory reforms that were adopted in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis to improve securitization markets and to curb systemic risk have bolstered the resilience of financial markets, without any major negative side effects on the economy, according to a report published by the Financial Stability Board (FSB) Tuesday.
The global policy group launched a consultation on its evaluation of the effects of reforms that were adopted by the G20 in response to the financial crisis. The reforms included revisions to banks’ capital requirements by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, along with measures developed by the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) to ensure that firms that originate securitization deals retain minimum exposure to the underlying credit risks of those transactions.
Those reforms were developed to address weaknesses exposed by the 2008 crisis, including the misalignment of incentives between originators of securitization transactions and investors, which led to weaker lending standards and amplified “a rapid and largely undetected build-up of leverage and maturity mismatches,” the report said.
Among other things, the reforms sought to improve transparency, better address conflicts of interest, enhance the alignment of incentives, and strengthen the regulatory capital treatment for banks’ securitization exposures.
The FSB said its analysis found that the reforms have improved the resilience of the securitization market and spread risk from banks to non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) without causing material negative side effects on financing to the real economy.
For example, the use of the kinds of complex securitization vehicles that amplified the effects of the financial crisis have declined significantly since the reforms were adopted, the report noted.
The analysis also found that the quality of collateral used in securitizations has improved in some asset classes, such as residential mortgage-backed securities, but not in other assets, including collateralize loan obligations.
Moreover, the credit performance of these vehicles has been strong since the financial crisis, and the market has not faced significant stress, the FSB noted.
“The reforms have contributed to a redistribution of risk from banks to the NBFI sector, with banks now holding higher-rated tranches,” the report said, adding that this shift is not unique to the securitization market since the financial crisis.
There’s little evidence that overall financing to the economy has been negatively affected by the reforms “if one considers growing corporate and household indebtedness and the growth in alternative financing instruments over this period,” the FSB added.
The deadline for feedback on the consultation is Sept. 2.
The FSB said its final report evaluating the reforms, slated to be published by the end of the year, will incorporate feedback from the public consultation.