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Nationwide: ABS markets need more than warm words

New European liquidity rules reinforce the ‘halo effect’ for covered bonds, but the treasurer of the UK’s biggest building society, Nationwide, says more effort must be put into reviving securitisation

andy-townsend-web
Andy Townsend, Nationwide

At first glance, the European version of Basel III's liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) makes happy reading for bank treasury departments with covered bond programmes. The rules upgraded covered bonds to level 1 assets, meaning they can comprise up to 70% of a bank's liquid asset buffer, which should guarantee healthy demand.

Andy Townsend, group treasurer at Nationwide in Swindon, however, is conflicted. As a covered bond issuer, it's great news as these products are the building society's cheapest

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