Sapient Global Markets has won a contract to design and build a European central data repository for asset-backed securities (ABSs).
In late 2010, the European Central Bank (ECB) outlined plans to establish loan-by-loan data requirements for ABSs in the Eurosystem collateral framework in a bid to improve transparency and restore investor confidence in the securitisation markets.
To make this happen, the ECB called on market participants to back a European DataWarehouse (ED) for the processing, verification and transmission of loan-level data.
A group of players under the banner Market Group began a tender process to find a firm to build the ED, revealing in May that it had established a short-list comprising Sapient, the Bank of New York Mellon, Experian, Thomson Reuters and consortia led by Bloomberg and Moody's.
Sapient has now won the contract and a repository that lets ABS originators submit loan-level data electronically in accordance with reporting templates developed by the ECB should be operational in the first half of next year.
Paul Burdell, secretary, Market Group, says: "After a competitive tender process, the Market Group selected Sapient Global Markets to construct the European DataWarehouse based on its ability to work with us across all facets of this project. Sapient demonstrated previous experience providing transparency into structured finance instruments, and a clear understanding of the importance of this project to the market."