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The new Belgian legislative framework for securitisations at work
Despite the international sub-prime crisis and general negative sentiment in the securitisation markets, affecting not only commercial mortgage-backed securities, but also other types of asset transaction, the Belgian securitisation market continued to see activity generally in line with that of 2006 through to the end of 2007.
At the same time, parties have become more acquainted with the new legislative framework following the Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) Act (July 20 2004), which implemented the EU UCITS Directive, and the Prospectus Act (June 16 2006), which implemented the EU Prospectus Directive and amended the former prospectus legislation. Public securitisation structures remain unattended, whilst institutional or private structures are considered to combine the proverbial best of both worlds, so that the institutional aspects of deals do not jeopardise the liquidity of the notes. The market has seen the emergence of new originators (eg, Delta Lloyd and Axa Bank Belgium), while traditionally active players (eg, Fortis, Dexia, KBC and ING) have continued to produce a (smaller) number of deals, in particular in view of achieving on-balance funding. It remains to be seen whether and to what extent, deal flow may decrease in line with international trends, or increase if systemic confidence sets in again later this year.
