Statement from the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) and the American Securitization Forum (ASF) on the decision announced today by the Federal Reserve Board and the Treasury Department to extend the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF) into next year:
“TALF has played a vital role in restarting the securitization markets, which fund a substantial portion of consumer and business credit. The industry applauds the decision announced today by the Federal Reserve Board and the Treasury Department to extend TALF into next year, providing a longer timeframe for the program to achieve results, especially in those sectors of the market that require additional time to recover, such as the commercial mortgage-backed securities market which is just beginning to show signs of improvement. The program has been a significant success in those parts of securitization markets where it has been applied, helping to reduce financing costs across asset classes, attracting participation by a wide range of issuers and investors, improving liquidity, and contributing to a restoration of confidence and function to the asset securitization market generally. The recovery of securitization is vital to the continued availability of affordable consumer and business credit, and to overall economic recovery and growth, and we strongly support extension of the TALF program.”