Securitization

Securitization

Creating a more or less standard investment instrument such as the mortgage pass-through security, by pooling assets to back the instrument. Also refers to the replacement of nonmarketable loans and/or cash flows provided by financial intermediaries with negotiable securities issued in the public capital markets.

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Securitization

The process by which a company packages its illiquid assets as a security. For example, when a company makes an initial public offering, it effectively packages the company's ownership into a certain number of stock certificates. Securities are backed by an asset, such as equity, or debt, such as a portion of a mortgage. Securitization allows a company access to greater funding to expand its operations or investments, or some other reason.

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Securitization. Securitization is the process of pooling various types of debt -- mortgages, car loans, or credit card debt, for example -- and packaging that debt as bonds, pass-through securities, or collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs), which are sold to investors.

The principal and interest on the debt underlying the security is paid to the investors on a regular basis, though the method varies based on the type of security. Debts backed by mortgages are known as mortgage-backed securities, while those backed by other types of loans are known as asset-backed securities.