Investor-placed securitization issuance for April 2023 was €6.4 billion—about two-thirds of the volume in April 2022. This means that overall issuance for the first four months of the year—at €26 billion—was down 37% compared with 2022. By contrast, European benchmark covered bond issuance has continued to be robust, already reaching close to €89 billion—up 36% on volumes recorded in the first four months of 2022. Although recent capital market volatility surrounding bank issuers has caused occasional pauses in the primary market, spreads and volumes have ultimately held up well. Benchmark issuance in April 2023 was €15.5 billion, compared with €11.0 billion in the same month a year earlier. In April 2023, we raised 40 of our ratings on European securitization tranches across a mix of sectors, including Irish, Portuguese, and Spanish RMBS. There was one downgrade in a U.K. auto ABS transaction and a default in a legacy CDO backed by mezzanine structured finance securities.