In a letter to members last night, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) CEO Tim Ryan announced the formation of the trade body’s own securitization advocacy group. The news comes after SIFMA and the American Securitization Forum (ASF) yesterday parted operational ways. “SIFMA sought during the past year to more comprehensively integrate its affiliate the American Securitization Forum (ASF) into SIFMA’s efforts,” the letter states. “However, the ASF was unwilling to formally integrate its activities into SIFMA, and released a statement that it was ending its affiliation with SIFMA.” SIFMA members include players in the securitization markets: from issuers to intermediaries to asset managers, who collectively manage $20trn in assets for pension funds, retirement funds and mutual funds. With the departure of the ASF, the SIFMA board felt the need to maintain a advocacy platform specifically for securitization “in a time when restarting the securitization market is a priority and we are engaged in wide ranging legislative and regulatory efforts.” Write to Jacob Gaffney.