RBA Securitisations Industry Forum

Following the release of the Implementation Notice dated 31 July on the Reserve Bank's Securitisations Industry Forum (SIF) website, the Australian Securitisation Forum and a number of institutions have made representations about RBA and industry initiated changes to data requirements and the timing of the project. This notice constitutes the RBA's response to this feedback.

Implementation Date for RMBS Reporting

The implementation date for mandatory reporting for RMBS has been shifted from 31 December 2014 to 30 June 2015. From 30 June 2015, the data that will be required to be reported are the RMBS data requirements released on 31 July 2014. Notwithstanding the shift in the mandatory implementation date, as per the original timetable, the RBA will accept RMBS data submissions from 31 December 2014.

During the period between 31 December 2014 and 30 June 2015, reporting via the Securitisation System will not be mandatory for RMBS to be eligible securities in the Reserve Bank's operations. After 30 June 2015, eligibility will be conditional on reporting the required information.

Data Requirements for RMBS

Detailed consolidated guidance for RMBS is being released on the SIF website today. Among other things, the guidance highlights RBA and industry initiated changes to data requirements since May 2014, provides greater clarity on the data required and submission format, and maps field codes in the Excel templates to the XML schema.

There will be no further changes to the RMBS data requirements ahead of 30 June 2015. If there are any changes to data requirements after this date, industry will be given a minimum of six months lead time to implement any changes.

Testing

Optional industry testing for the Securitisation System will proceed in the coming months as planned. Information Providers (IPs) who have registered to participate in this testing will be contacted to schedule a suitable time.

All IPs will have access to the Securitisation System testing environment by arrangement from December 2014 onwards. IPs can register interest in testing by sending an email to securitisations@rba.gov.au (include in the subject line of the email ‘Industry Testing Contacts’) with contact details. The RBA will then work with IPs to schedule their testing at an appropriate time aligned to IPs' project schedules.

Validation Rules

The Bank's Securitisation System validation rules for RMBS will be based on the data formats specified in the XML Schema and the guidance notes released as part of the data mapping exercise noted above. The initial validation rules will include: whether ‘No Data’ codes will be accepted; ensuring data are in the expected format (e.g. numeric or string); and a check that the IP is authorised to submit information for that deal and that all tranches are included. The validation rules will be refined over time, based on the RBA's experience with data quality once reporting commences.

CMBS and Other ABS

The RBA will be releasing the XML schemas and a similar mapping exercise from the field codes to the XML schemas for Other ABS and CMBS by the end of September 2014. There is no change to the implementation date of 30 June 2015 for CMBS and Other ABS reporting.

The Reserve Bank appreciates the commitment of resources, effort and level of engagement of each issuer, information provider and the industry more generally.