The second half of 2011 will bring a very active RMBS issuance pipeline for public and private placement, although this will focus on existing markets, according to Neil Shah, managing director and head of Moody’s Investors Service RMBS business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
"The U.K. prime sector continues to be an active market and we believe public investors will purchase a higher number of these transactions than they did last year," Shah said in a Q&A report conducted by the rating agency. "We anticipate that more medium-sized banks/building societies will be involved in new transactions."
Some U.K. nonconforming deals will also enter the new issuance pipeline.
According to Shah, the Dutch sector will remain active, with mostly repeat issuers. Italian issuance will also gain some momentum, with a combination of sold transactions and transactions destined to be repo trades likely to continue in some measure.
Shah said he still expected to see this continued focus on transactions destined to be repo trades.
"Elsewhere in Europe, we see retained deals largely driving new RMBS issuance," he said. "At the same time, we are certainly seeing greater interest in EMEA RMBS amongst investors, including, but not restricted to, U.S. and Asian investors. On a positive note for the market, we are seeing interest from investors that have not been particularly active in the segment in the past."
