16 minutes ago WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the nation's four biggest banks were ready to kick-start a market for covered bonds that could help significantly expand home mortgage financing."I believe covered bonds have the potential to increase mortgage financing, improve underwriting standards and strengthen U.S. financial institutions by providing a new funding source," Paulson said at a press conference on Monday.
Covered bonds, issued by banks and secured by pools of assets like home loans, are widely used in Europe but have only become attractive in the United States since the segment of the mortgage securitization market driven by investment banks dried up last year amid a wave of foreclosures.
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