What explains the recourse of US commercial banks to securitization?

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the reasons that urge US banks to securitize. Design/methodology/approach - The authors apply a logistic regression model to a sample of 5,394 observations. The dependent variable takes 1 if the bank securitizes and 0 if not. The authors use also, a Heckman selection model to account for the potential dependence between the decision to securitize and the decision of which assets to securitize. Findings - The results indicate that liquidity, credit risk transfer, regulatory capital arbitrage and profitability are the most important factors that drive securitization in the USA. Moreover, the nature of the asset securitized appears to be dependent on the objective that the bank pursues. For funding and capital arbitrage objectives, the bank needs to securitize its mortgage loans. However, for credit risk transfer purposes, it has to opt for a non mortgage securitization. The nature of the asset securitized can thus, be used as a signal for bank’s intentions to securitize. Originality/value - This study contributes to a better understanding of the reasons that urge banks to securitize. It also presents, using a Heckman selection procedure, a detailed analysis that discriminates between different types of securitization.