It is highly likely that by augmenting the amount of funding available to banks, securitization activity had a significant and positive impact on credit growth during the years prior to the credit crisis (Loutskina and Strahan, 2009, Altunbas et al., 2009). In a number of countries experiencing a period credit growth, securitization activity probably strengthened the feedback effect between increases in housing prices and the credit expansion. The growth in securitization issuance also led to laxer credit standards and looser screening of borrowers thereby supporting higher credit growth in the years prior to the crisis (Keys,.
