Credit-Rating Rules Unlikely to ‘Freeze’ Securitization Markets

Credit raters’ reactions to the U.S. financial-regulation law that boosts their legal risks are unlikely to “freeze” the securitization market even while forcing changes in practices and potentially slowing sales, RBS Securities Inc. and Bank of America Corp. analysts said.

Issuers will probably do more so-called private placement or 144a transactions, which can be bought only by large, sophisticated buyers and aren’t affected by the regulatory changes, Paul Jablansky, a senior debt strategist at Stamford, Connecticut-based RBS Securities, said in a telephone interview.