US

SEC proposes rules relating to asset-backed securities

Earlier this year, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published for comment a comprehensive proposal regarding application to asset-backed securities (ABS) of the registration and disclosure requirements of the Securities Act of 1933 (the ‘Securities Act’) and the on-going reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the ‘Exchange Act’). By and large, the proposal codifies a number of positions adopted by the staff of the SEC, on a case-by-case basis, since the emergence of the ABS market in the early 1970’s. Those positions respond to the difficulties arising from the application to ABS issuers and transactions of the panoply of disclosure and continued reporting requirements imposed under the Securities Act and the Exchange Act on operating companies that are fundamentally different from the entities typically used in a securitisation.