Discussion paper DBA and DSA: Securitisations in the Savings and Investment Union

23 september 2026

A competitive and growing economy requires investment by consumers, businesses and governments. This calls for a diverse range of financing products. Given the growing need for financing, Europe needs to ensure securitisations can be used more effectively as a financial instrument to unlock this private capital. Securitisations are still viewed with caution because of their role in the 2008 financial crisis. In the United States in particular, this product caused major problems at the time. Risks were often unclear, and banks transferred too much risk to the securitisation and ultimately to the end investor. In addition, different securitisations were combined into new securitisations. Since the crisis, numerous improvements have been introduced (see box), prohibiting such practices and significantly improving the transparency of securitisations. Despite these improvements, the rules for securitisations are currently stricter for issuers and investors than for other financial products, leaving the securitisation market in the EU severely underused.