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In the Marketplace

By ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |
December 02, 2005

In connection with a report published by Fitch Ratings exploring the quantitative impact of the Basel II capital charges on a range of structured transactions typical of deals in the marketplace, the company found that Basel II will have an important effect on the securitization activity of banks by creating a new framework for how banks measure and allocate capital against credit risk.

The report, Basel II: The 'Bottom-line' Impact on Securitization Markets, evaluates the amount of Basel II capital that banks must hold on an unsecuritized pool of assets in comparison to holding a securitized structure of these same assets. It details how the new capital framework might affect investment flows within structured product markets. Fitch finds that banks could potentially face lower capital charges by investing in rated securitization structures rather than by directly holding a comparable pool of unsecuritized assets, particularly for credit card asset-backed securities (“ABS”), commercial mortgage-backed securities (“CMBS”), and residential mortgage-backed securities (“RMBS”). Fitch also notes that Basel II could influence how banks structure their securitization deals as they “will face strong pressures under Basel II to minimize their exposure to sub-investment grade tranches, given the significant amount of regulatory capital they will have to hold against these positions,” according to Krishnan Ramadurai, Senior Director, Financial Institutions, Fitch Ratings.

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