The Global ABS 2025 conference was held in Barcelona from 10 June to 12 June. Now in its 29th year, the event remains Europe's premier structured finance gathering, hosted by the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) and new conference organiser Financial Times Live. Matheson was delighted to sponsor this conference.
Matheson Attendees
The Matheson attendees at this year's conference were Alan Keating, Vincent McConnon, Alan Bunbury, William Foot, Gearoid Murphy, Emily Ashford and John Adams. They are all members of the wider Structured Finance team in Matheson.
Themes
The following were our main takeaways from this year's conference:
- Optimistic Outlook: The conference was held against a backdrop of renewed issuance momentum and fresh investor appetite, as well as a macro environment marked by policy recalibration and geopolitical uncertainty. While mindful of the headwinds, speakers and other delegates struck a mostly optimistic tone as they considered the prospects for the European securitisation market for the rest of 2025.
- Regulatory Framework: There was much discussion among delegates at the conference about the European Commission's forthcoming legislative proposal to amend the current EU securitisation framework. The formal legislative proposalOpens in new window was subsequently published on 17 June. You can read more about it in our recent insights article here.
- Private Credit and Asset-Backed Finance (ABF): This remains an area of keen focus with further growth in the scope and scale of the private credit market anticipated. Delegates agreed that both ABF and fund finance are likely to be key components in that growth.
- Synthetic Risk Transfer (SRT): SRT transactions were hailed by many delegates at the conference as a significant positive for the overall European securitisation market. Speakers at the conference referenced continuing growth in this space, as the drivers for issuers to enter into SRT transactions continue to align well with investor demand.
- Sustainable Finance: Notwithstanding some headwinds (particularly in the US), the green energy transition and other aspects of sustainable finance remain key drivers for both the securitisation market and private credit. For example, speakers discussing the auto ABS sector referenced the expected increase in battery electric vehicles (BEV) borrowers within ABS pools in the time ahead.
- Esoteric Assets: Esoteric securitisation transactions continue to gain traction, alongside the securitisation of more traditional asset classes. Speakers referenced increased investor interest in assets such as data centres, music royalties, stadium finance and equity release mortgages.
- Middle East: The securitisation market in the Middle East continues to grow. Delegates at the conference referenced maturing markets in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, in particular.
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