Securitization allows banks to repackage and resell debt, famously explained by actress Margot Robbie in a bubble bath in the film “The Big Short.”

The European Union wants to breathe new life into a financial practice most commonly associated with causing the 2008 financial crisis as it tries to jump-start banks’ lending to the economy.

On Tuesday, the European Commission will publish a package of legislation aiming to revive the industry of “securitization,” after strict postcrisis laws almost stamped out the use of the practice in the bloc.

Securitization is the practice where banks repackage and resell debt, famously explained by actress Margot Robbie in a bubble bath in the film “The Big Short.” The engineering allows banks to move some assets off their balance sheets, giving them more space to extend new loans.

  • ryathal@sh.itjust.works
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    1 day ago

    Everyone should meet someone that worked in the mortgage industry pre 2008. The number of things that were not only allowed, but perfectly legal were absurd.

    • appraisal was basically a bribe for any number you wanted.
    • no document loans were far more available for anyone.
    • mortgages had no real chain of custody after sale.
    • there wasn’t any real way to verify the risk of a mortgage security pre 2008.
    • variable rates didn’t have lifetime caps on rates, and reporting the details of how they functioned weren’t required.