As the reform of European Union (EU) securitisation rules enters the final stages of negotiations, Ian Bettney, Portfolio Manager, and Nathan Fox, Head of Public Affairs, assess what is on the table and determine whether the reforms can unlock the market’s full potential.
Europe’s securitisation market is at a turning point
Once central to the functioning of European credit markets, securitisation has never fully recovered from the Global Financial Crisis. While European securitisations proved more resilient than their US counterparts during the crisis, the regulatory response in Europe was nonetheless extensive. Over the past decade, layers of rules covering transparency, due diligence, risk retention and reporting have created one of the most prescriptive regulatory regimes in global capital markets. Although intended to restore confidence, this framework has also constrained market growth and participation. As a result, European securitised issuance has halved from pre-crisis levels, averaging just €250 billion per year – roughly one-seventh of the US market[1], where securitisation has continued to expand and remains a core source of credit funding.
That is now set to change. The European Commission proposed its Securitisation Regulation Review in June 2025[2]; the European Council agreed its position in December that year[3]; and the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) Committee finalised its stance in May 2026[4]. Trilogue negotiations between these parties are now underway – and the stakes are high. If revived to pre-crisis levels, Europe’s securitisation market could unlock €130-320 billion in new lending each year, amounting to more than €1 trillion over five years[5]. Thus, connecting long-term investors with real economy lending – mortgages, consumer credit, small and medium size enterprise (SME) finance – that is not otherwise readily accessible through public markets.
Janus Henderson welcomes this direction of travel. However, as a global asset manager and a longstanding, committed, and active investor in securitised credit, we believe the current proposals risk falling short of their objectives. While most issues reflect areas where the new securitisation framework could have been better calibrated, one element stands out as fundamentally different – both in scale and in consequence.
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Footnotes
[1] Source: Bloomberg, Citigroup, Dealogic, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Bank of America, NatWest Markets, Thomson Reuters, UniCredit, AFME & SIFMA, as at the end of Q4 2025, 21 January 2026.
[2] Source: European Commission, Proposal for a Regulation amending Regulation (EU) 2017/2402 and Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, COM(2025) 826 final, 17 June 2025.
[3] Source: Council of the European Union, General Approach on the Securitisation Regulation Review, 19 December 2025.
[4] Source: European Parliament, ECON Committee vote on the Securitisation Regulation Review, 5–6 May 2026; endorsed at plenary, 21 May 2026.
[5] Source: European Capital Markets Institute, April 2026.
