This is natural since structured finance is a combination of manifold features such as different asset types, a variety of interest rate products with diverse maturity profiles and structures, and a variety of legal regimes and market arrangements. Thus, restoring the securitisation markets requires a combination of initiatives, both from the private and the public sector. The Eurosystem is contributing, first of all, by accepting structured finance assets as collateral. This proved and still proves a great support to this market segment during the crisis, as it helped and continues to help to avoid a sudden and disruptive unavailability of funding to originators of ABS. Second, as mentioned earlier, by introducing a loan level data requirement to our set of eligibility criteria, we may contribute to increasing the disclosure standards for the market at large. However, more needs to be done, as many of those required steps, for example enhancing secondary market liquidity, go beyond the scope for direct action by the Eurosystem. Looking ahead, a self-sustained revival of the ABS market requires fundamental changes. It is high time to raise to the challenges of transparency, standardisation and product simplicity. This is where the industry has to step up its efforts in order to help decisively in restoring confidence in the securitisation markets. Thank you for your attention. 6  BIS Review 84/2010
As the pandemic unfolds, many people are starting to ask questions about our economic future: What will the recovery look like? When will it begin? And how will it be affected by the virus? It's easiest to start with the last of these questions first. The virus will continue to be at center stage throughout the economic recovery. We are traveling down a narrow path, balancing a return of economic activity with effective containment of COVID-19. The overall unemployment rate reached nearly 15 percent in April, and around 20 million Americans have lost their jobs—numbers I hoped I would never see in my lifetime. These figures understate the full extent of the pandemic's toll on the economy. The pandemic and the ensuing economic downturn have done disproportionate harm to communities of color. Black and Hispanic families, as well as lower-wage workers, have suffered the most.2 Those who least can afford it have been hardest hit, making a strong and full economic recovery of paramount importance. As the recent surge in cases in some states demonstrates, much is still unknown about how the pandemic will play out in the months ahead. That said, there have been signs that we may be past the worst of the extreme economic distress, and early indications of a recovery have started to emerge. As states began to open up and people returned to eating in restaurants and shopping in stores we've seen sizable increases in consumer spending. We've also seen increases in building permits, signaling a turnaround in the construction industry.