Keep what you sow

Despite widespread criticism, the European Commission is pushing forward with a proposal to amend the Capital Requirements Directive, which will force banks to retain 10% of all credit risk transfer products on their books. What implications does this have for the securitisation market? William Rhode investigates

In his final year as European commissioner for the internal market and services, it is clear Charlie McCreevy wants to make a lasting statement with a securitisation reform proposal that will see banks, and their ability to offload risk, kept on a tight leash.

Given the events of the past year, it is hard to blame him. Securitisation has been held responsible for contributing to the global nature of the credit crisis. In particular, it has been argued that because banks were able to offload the