Make it easier for banks to help the economy recover

"We need to encourage banks to support the economic recovery by making it easier to issue fresh loans to citizens and companies. Securitisation can be an important medicine for a stronger recovery after the COVID-19-pandemic", said Othmar Karas MEP, Vice-President of the European Parliament and negotiator for the new rules for securitisations which will be debated today and voted tomorrow in the European Parliament.

"Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs), who are among the hardest hit from the economic fallout during the Corona pandemic, need fresh money. The new rules on securitisation are well designed for exactly that purpose and are properly dosed so this will not compromise financial stability", explained Karas.

"I am particularly pleased that the European Parliament achieved a better, more sensitive way of assessing the risk associated with the treatment of banks’ capital and so-called simple and transparent-on-balance-sheet securitisations in the negotiations with the EU Member States. This will give banks some space in their balance sheets. I am also pleased that we have successfully strengthened transparency, laid the foundation for a sustainable securitisation label and improved our rules to avoid potential tax evasion in third countries", Karas concluded.