THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 114 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Central Bank [OJ C 219, 17.6.2016, p. 2.],

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee [OJ C 82, 3.3.2016, p. 1.],

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure [Position of the European Parliament of 26 October 2017 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and decision of the Council of 20 November 2017.],

Whereas:

(1) Securitisation involves transactions that enable a lender or a creditor - typically a credit institution or a corporation - to refinance a set of loans, exposures or receivables, such as residential loans, auto loans or leases, consumer loans, credit cards or trade receivables, by transforming them into tradable securities. The lender pools and repackages a portfolio of its loans, and organises them into different risk categories for different investors, thus giving investors access to investments in loans and other exposures to which they normally would not have direct access. Returns to investors are generated from the cash flows of the underlying loans.