False security An extended case study of RMBS in the Netherlands

This ethnography of how Residential Mortgage Backed Securities (RMBS) come into being in the Netherlands is a case-study of how a modern financial market functions on a micro level. The research took place between 2008 and 2010, during and shortly after the Financial Crisis of 2008 that began on an equivalent market in the U.S. and spread around the world. The publication of this PhD-thesis comes at a time when, fifteen years later, global financial markets are again in turmoil with two large banks in the U.S. and Switzerland gone bankrupt.
The Dutch RMBS market is considered one of the safest of its kind and currently serves as a blueprint for efforts by the European Union to foster growth of RMBS in all European jurisdictions. This prompts the need to probe the problems of this market, too. This thesis does so with the benefit of hindsight, presenting rich, original empirical evidence suited to provide nuanced input into renewed discussions about much needed change in the financial system.
After a brief Introduction on the extant literature on the financial system; and a Methodology chapter that outlines the difficulties of conducting ethnographic field work in 'high finance'; this thesis traces the 'value chain' of RMBS, covering all steps required for the making, trading, and administering of these influential yet little known securities. The Conclusion discusses the empirical evidence with reference to classic economic theory and provides suggestions for a more sustainable financial system.