The sale of season: Holding period requirements for assignments and securitisation
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Any sale or assignment or transfer, including securitisation, of loans is subject to a minimum seasoning with the originator. Under the extant regulatory provisions, such requirement is referred to as ‘Minimum Holding Period’ (MHP), which means the minimum period for which the originator should have held the loan exposures before the same is transferred to the transferee or Special Purpose Entity (SPE), as the case may be. This serves several purposes: that the loan was not originated for sale, the originator has had some equity in the loans, and that there is a benefit of hindsight of performance.
MHP requirements have always been a part of the regulations in India. However, on December 5, 2022, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) made certain amendments to the Master Direction – Reserve Bank of India (Transfer of Loan Exposures) Directions, 2021[1] (‘TLE Directions’) as well as the Master Direction – Reserve Bank of India (Securitisation of Standard Assets) Directions, 2021[2] (‘SSA Directions’). Among the other changes, there was a change in the MHP provisions; this change may have a significant impact on future transactions.
This write-up intends to clarify the position with respect to the computation of MHP for different types of loans under TLE Directions as well as SSA Directions.
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