Securitization Group Plans to Weigh in on Risk Retention

The American Securitization Forum is planning to issue a paper on risk retention proposals and related amendments. The paper was not immediately available at press time but executive director Tom Deutsch told this publication at the group's annual meeting Tuesday that it would weigh in with suggestions that the proposal allow for different treatment of different asset classes. It also would address a proposal to allow strict underwriting requirement to serve as a form of risk retention. Deutsch said the group is unified in calling for different forms of risk retention for different asset classes given differences in the way they are affected by regulatory capital requirements and recently-changed accounting standards. For example, while mortgage deals might be able to accomplish the 5% risk retention through a "vertical" slice of all the asset classes in a deal without triggering certain onerous accounting requirements, another type of securitized assets may not. Some issuers of non-mortgage assets would prefer the option of using a horizontal slice of the deal to accommodate this, he said. The group —which sometimes issues separate "educational" positions split between investor and issuer contingents when they cannot immediately agree on an issue —is currently divided when it comes to the underwriting issue, Deutsch said.