Industry Role

Participants are realistic about the work ahead to achieve a truly sustainable industry and enjoy the benefits that sustainability are expected to deliver.

They are willing to contribute but hungry for guidance as well. The need for standards is paramount and there is a sense of urgency when participants talk about that need.

“There are so many different views and no standardisation, even at the originator level. It's very difficult from an investor perspective too. The body of work we’re doing, you would think there would be a lot of investors doing a similar body of work. We're taking guidance from international peers and if there was leadership from the ASF it would be good. It would have to happen pretty soon.”

- Local Investor The interesting thing you find when reviewing discussions about ‘industry’s role’ is the fact that the majority do not assume addressing these issues are ‘someone else’s problem’. The industry is widely known for its collaborative and collegiate nature, and this comes through when people talk about doing the work to arrive at standards and guidelines and everything else that needs doing.

“The industry has a vested interest or should have a vested interest in standardising this, because the more standard it is, the more accessible it is to more participants, and the more participants there are, the sooner you reach a critical mass point. It’s an industrywide obligation. I wouldn't say it is the ASF’s role, for example, but it certainly should be like a multi-party effort like a lot of the things that have been done in the securitisation industry here.”

- Global Bank Several participants felt there was much work to be done towards industry sustainability, particularly in relation to opportunities for women.

“I think it's just harnessing that collaborative nature of the industry to really push support for women. How do we help them build their profiles and how do we help them build their confidence to continue on in this space in their careers and think about opportunities outside of those more bottomline type roles?”

- Non Bank Issuer