Living with recognition

Under new accounting rules implemented this year, the majority of Europe's asset-backed securities transactions will now have to be recognised on balance sheet. Will this lead to a drop in securitisation volumes? Duncan Wood reports

The adoption of a new accounting regime by the European Union's listed companies at the start of this year has flipped traditional reporting practices for securitisations upside-down. Under the new rules, the vast majority of asset-backed securities (ABSs) transactions – worth €246 billion in Europe last year – will now have to be recognised on balance sheet. But perhaps the biggest surprise about this revolution is that, where one might have expected howls of protest, the rule change has