At its mid-December meeting, the European Central Bank called for comments on banks' reporting of information about the securitized assets they then swap for ECB liquidity.
The ECB will begin a consultation process with banks, investors and market participants asking them to suggest how RMBS can be made more transparent.
"The Governing Council, having assessed the need for surveillance of loan-level data, decided to launch a public consultation on the reporting of loan-level information for [ABSs] in the context of the Eurosystem collateral framework," the ECB said.
The ECB recently tightened its rules for accepting ABS as security in its liquidity operations, but has also said more transparency about the way such assets are put together would help revive public confidence and trade.
Better information about individual loans, such as the value of the property backing a mortgage and whether borrowers have kept up repayments, could give the ECB and others valuing the loans a true value and also attract new buyers to the market.
