Bond Market Voices Lending Law Concerns

Securitization and bond market groups called for a national predatory lending law and reiterated ongoing concern about the liability existing state-by-state legislation places on secondary market participants at a Nov. 5 congressional hearing."It's critically important to clarify and limit the potential liability to which a secondary market participant can be exposed and that standard should be applied nationally," Micah Green, president of The Bond Market Association said. "Regulation that seeks to place disproportionate responsibilities on the secondary market will only succeed in driving away the capital loan purchasers provide in the subprime market," said Cameron C. Cowan, a member of the American Securitization Forum's executive committee. Mr. Cowan also is a partner and managing director of finance practices at Orrick, Herrington, and Sutcliffe. The association and the forum are affiliated organizations, the former of which is more focused on sell-side representation while the latter aims to include a broader base of market participants. The association can be found online at http://www.bondmarkets.com.