Yet, securitization also meant that banks were able to sell their credit – for example, their mortgage loans – immediately after they had been extended. Such innovative financial techniques had several consequences. First, they enabled lenders to expand the volume of their operations and conserve on capital. Second, they weakened lenders' incentives for prudent screening.
2  The ESCB’s Centralised Securities Database contains reference data on millions of individual securities. These reference data are linked to a granular database on securities holdings, which allow policy-makers to assess “who holds what” when it comes to securities. The main euro area sectors and the 26 largest banking groups holding individual securities are covered.