Tuesday, June 7, 2011

ECB ABS Data Warehouse: Finalists Search for Help [update]

Last week, the Market Group announced the finalists for designing, building and operating the ECB's ABS data warehouse.  Since then, I have been contacted on an unsolicited basis by two of them.  Ultimately, I expect to hear from 5 of the 6 finalists.

That finalists would be reaching out to my firm is not surprising given its subject matter expertise in the ABS data warehouse area.

As I discussed in my firm's response to the ECB's public consultation on loan-level disclosure for ABS securities, responsibility for the data warehouse should be divided between two firms:  one firm with the subject matter expertise to coordinate all aspects of the data warehouse and the other firm with the resources for implementation and on-going operation of the data warehouse.

For most of the finalists, their organizations possess the resources to implement and operate the data warehouse.  They lack the subject matter expertise.  Hence the reason they are reaching out to my firm.

[Update:  In my conversations with the different finalists, they have all expressed an interest in expanding this data warehouse to cover structured finance securities in the US.  Besides an interest in my firm's subject matter expertise, they have also expressed an interest in obtaining a license to the firm's intellectual property.  Their view being that the design of the structured finance securities to appeal to investors around the globe makes the intellectual property relevant for both a European and US data warehouse.]

No comments: