About the Securitisation Division
The activities of the Securitisation Division are conducted through the European Securitisation Forum (now known as AFME / ESF), which addresses financial markets policy issues relating to securitisation, development of best practices, and member education. Membership comprises securitisation arrangers, issuers, investors, credit rating agencies, law and accounting firms, trustees, servicers, data and other service providers, stock exchanges and other market participants. AFME / ESF seeks to:
- Build consensus within the industry on issues of broad importance to the participants involved;
- Mount focused efforts to advance AFME / ESF's substantive positions by interacting with appropriate governmental, regulatory, accounting, legislative, and other policy-making bodies at the EU, national, and international levels;
- Educate the securitisation community and related stakeholders about the benefits of, and market developments in, securitisation;
- Conduct substantive, high-quality conferences, workshops and educational programmes;
- Provide member firms with a forum to identify, raise, and discuss industry issues and concerns;
- Eliminate inefficiencies in market practice and regulation;
- Facilitate the development of best practices and industry standards;
- Contribute industry expertise to facilitate an informed debate about regulation; and
- Serve as a resource for policy makers, media, and private individuals seeking to understand the securitisation markets.
Initiatives are generated by the members, approved by the division's board, and carried out by AFME staff with input from AFME / ESF working groups. The projects take a variety of forms, from informal discussion groups to formal responses to government consultations.
Key Issues and Initiatives
During the market turmoil, AFME / ESF has focused on developing market-led solutions to restore investor confidence in securitisation. These initiatives seek to enhance transparency by improving access to and quality of data, and to develop market practices for better market infrastructure to ensure a more sustainable and robust European securitisation market going forward. Specific initiatives include:
- Support for standardisation of securitisation products;
- Improved issuer disclosure and investors' due diligence practices; and
- Reduction of information asymmetries and improvement of alignment of incentives between originators, investors, and other market participants.
An important example is the Ten Industry Initiatives to Increase Transparency in the European Securitisation Markets, released together with eight other European and global trade associations in response to the European Council of Finance Ministers' (ECOFIN) call to enhance transparency for investors, markets and regulators.
Organisation
The board of directors of AFME / ESF comprises heads of securitisation businesses at member firms.
Board of Directors
Steve Gandy, Santander, Chairman *
Mark Lewis, UniCredit, Vice-Chair *
Gaëlle Philippe-Viriot, AXA Investment Managers
Matthew M. Cooke, Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Allen Appen, Barclays Capital
Fabrice Susini, BNP Paribas *
Robert H. Liao, Citi
Kevin P. Ingram, Clifford Chance *
Nathalie Esnault, Crédit Agricole CIB
Masashi Washida, Credit Suisse
Massimo Ruggieri, Deutsche Bank *
Karen Skinner, Fitch Ratings
Marcus Mackenzie, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Paul Weitzkorn, Goldman Sachs International
Scott Dickens, HSBC *
Amador Malnero, ING Bank
Caroline Muste, ING Investment Management
Camilla Tinari, Intesa Sanpaolo SpA
Eric Wragge, J.P.Morgan
Robert Plehn, Lloyds Banking Group
Jason H.P. Kravitt, Mayer Brown LLP *
Iain Barbour, MBIA Insurance Corporation
Frederic Drevon, Moody's Investors Service
Thomas Jackivicz, Morgan Stanley
David Covey, Nomura
Mark O'Keefe, Rabobank International
Lee Rochford, RBS
Marc Nocart, Société Générale *
Ian Bell, Standard & Poor's *
Jennifer Wallaert, UBS
* Members of the AFME / ESF Executive Committee
Working Groups
Market Standards and Practices Working Group
Legal and Regulatory Working Group (focused on ABS legal infrastructure issues)
Prudential/Capital Requirements Directive Working Group (with AFME Prudential Regulation Committee)
Investor Working Group
National Working Groups (Spain, Italy, UK, Netherlands, Russia and Eastern Europe, Germany, and France)
Accounting Working Group (together with AFME Accounting Committee)
Traders/Syndicate Working Group
Researchers Working Group
Trustees Working Group
Solvency II Working Group
CDO/CLO Working Group
Conference Planning Working Group
AFME / ESF collaborates with other major European and global associations involved with securitisation issues, including the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), the American Securitization Forum (ASF), and the Asia Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (ASIFMA), to promote a consistent approach for development of the securitisation industry globally.
Contact
Rick Watson, Managing Director
rick.watson@afme.eu
+44 (0)20 7743 9333
Richard Hopkin, Managing Director
richard.hopkin@afme.eu
+44 (0)20 7743 9375
Anna Zennaro, Associate
anna.zennaro@afme.eu
+44 (0)20 7743 9305