A Conference on Securitisation was successfully held today

A Conference on Securitisation was successfully held today, with wide participation from members of the public and private sector. The Conference was arranged by EFG Telesis Finance and Deutsche Bank, strategic partner of EFG Eurobank Ergasias,. Ιt signals the interest of both parties for the development of new financing tools in Greece, to respond to the increasing needs of the modern business units (of the public & private sectors) for alternative methods of financing as well as for improvement of their Assets & Liabilities management.
While commencing the event, Mr Nikos Karamouzis, Deputy Chief Executive of EFG Eurobank Ergasias and President of EFG Telesis Finance, emphasized that the Conference was held in view of the active role and the initiatives to be jointly undertaken by EFG Eurobank Ergasias and Deutsche Bank in the Greek Debt Capital Markets, where they will introduce new and innovative products and services, which are already widely used in the international markets. Mr Ioannis Kousoulakos, Secretary General of the Ministry of Finance, referred to the the Greek experience with regards to securitisation and the gradual introduction of new tools in the fiscal policy aiming at the reduction of public debt with terms, compatible with the international market trends. Mr Kousoulakos emphasized that these tools can be used both by the Republic as well as by other public entities that can utilize their assets and their future cashflows for raising funds today, resulting in a better management of their debt and in a variation of their funding sources. Moreover, he announced that the Republic is willing to make the necessary changes in the legal framework and to waive the current tax disincentives so that all interested parties may be able to use the financing tool of securitization, with emphasis on the Banks which will be able to further develop securitisation in Greece, as is already happening in the developed markets. From Deutsche Bank, Mr Michael Raynes, Managing Director, Head of European Securitisation Group referred to the historic development of securitisation as a tool pointing out, amongst other things, that in the USA it is used by entities of the public sector as their primary financing tool and that nowadays securitisation Issues outweigh classic Bond Issues. In 2001 securitisation Issues in the USA reached $344 billion as opposed to $145 billion in Europe. However, Mr Raynes pointed out that in Europe this instrument is is applied to a greater variety of assets than in the USA, where the common use is in the field of credit cards, mortgage loans and car loan financing. Mrs Nicole Downer, Director European securitisation Group of Deutsche Bank, referred to the advantages of securitisation as opposed to traditional lending, such as unsecured bonds or traditional bank financing. It is apparent that securitisation helps the issuers restrain their total debt cost, because even though securitisation seems to be more costly, as a result of the release of capital that it entails, it operates in such a way that in the end it proves to be a form of lower cost financing in terms of return on equity. Mr Ganesh Rajendra, Director Head of European Securitisation Research of Deutsche Bank, presented the European asset backed securities Market with respect to both issuers and investorsHe specifically referred to the issue of who are the investors in the asset backed securities Market and what are their investment criteria. According to Mr Rajendra, today there are many companies with specific programs of issuing debt like real estate companies as well as public sector energy companies and companies that manage water resources etc. Additionally, similar strategies are being adopted by big private companies like Volkswagen, Fiat etc. Finally, Mr Alan Newton, Senior Partner of Freshfields referred to how the legal framework can contribute to the development of securitisation with reference to the way of its operation in other European countries and the systems adopted.
It should be emphasized that, Deutsche Bank is today one of the largest and strongest organization in the European market as well as one of the biggest in the field of capital markets globally with a long and constant successful activity that is confirmed by international awards received by well known international institutions. As it was announced in the Conference, Deutsche Bank and EFG Telesis Finance are jointly planning to hold an International Convention on Securitisation and the developments in the European Markets, which will take place in Athens in the Spring. It was pointed out that Athens was selected as the place where the Conference will take place due to the fact that the Greek market is continuously increasing in significance and has considerable perspectives for the growth of such activities.