Banks are recruiting senior securitisation specialists in anticipation of a pick-up in the sector in Europe, with up to €1.25 trillion ($1.55 trillion) in securitised assets expected to be sold.

The European asset-backed securities market, pools of mortgages and other loans, grew fivefold between 2000 and the peak in 2006 when issuance hit $540bn (€436bn), according to Dealogic. But as troubles in the US sub-prime mortgage market spread to Europe in 2007, issuance dried up.