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In general I find the financial term "securitization" written with "z", but in some Basel Committee documents I've found "securitisation" with "s".

I think it is more common the term with "z", may I use it if I write in British English?

In particular I'd like to know if it is OK if I use the "z" form for this term while I'm using "s" form for other non-financial terms.

CarLaTeX
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    The suffix -ise is BrE while -ize is AmE.- English picked up the French form, but partially reverted to the correct Greek -z- spelling from late 16c. *In Britain, despite the opposition to it (at least formerly) of OED, Encyclopaedia Britannica, the "Times of London," and Fowler, -ise remains dominant.* Fowler thinks this is to avoid the difficulty of remembering the short list of common words not from Greek which must be spelled with an -s- (such as advertise, devise, surprise). http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=-ize&allowed_in_frame=0 –  Jul 21 '16 at 06:03
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    "Securitization" is an international financial term, and probably for that reason, the AmE spelling prevails:https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=securitization%2Csecuritisation&year_start=1970&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Csecuritization%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Csecuritisation%3B%2Cc0 -See also :http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2011/03/ize-or-ise/ –  Jul 21 '16 at 06:09
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    @JanusBahsJacquet - not really a duplicate, OP concern is about one specific term, not the -ise/ize usage in general. Plus, being a term used almost exclusively in finance, other usage aspects should be taken into account. –  Jul 21 '16 at 07:48

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In British English we tend to always spell with the letter "s" as opposed to the letter "z". Much of American and British English shares this pattern. In fact there is an interesting piece on this subject which can be found here http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2011/03/ize-or-ise/

It seems to be that it is acceptable to use both forms. As a British native speaker using "s" or "ise" at the end of certain words tends to be more standard practice. I would say in this case choose one variation and use it consistently. It wouldn't be wrong to use the North American form however not as common in the UK. Outside of the UK, North American English forms are much more common largely because US English has a much broader reach in films, the media and television alone than British English does.

Jonathan Hill
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  • In this case i'd prefer to use the "z" form, but is it OK if I use the "z" form for this term while I'm using "s" form for other non-financial terms? – CarLaTeX Jul 21 '16 at 07:09
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    Yes it would be. In general be consistent with the form you choose. There isn't a right or wrong in whichever form you decide to use. – Jonathan Hill Jul 21 '16 at 07:12
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    @CarLaTeX No, that would be silly. If you generally use s, use s in this word too. If you generally use z, use z in this word too. It doesn't matter whether a word is a financial term or not. Similarly, you wouldn't spell colour and labour with a u, but then write harbor without one because it's a maritime term. – Janus Bahs Jacquet Jul 21 '16 at 07:35
  • @JanusBahsJacquet So is it better if I switch to American English? I'm writing my thesis and I'm just at the beginning, I've no particular rules by my University. – CarLaTeX Jul 21 '16 at 08:57
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    @CarLaTeX Unless your thesis adviser prefers one over the other, you should just use the variety you are most familiar with and prefer yourself. There's nothing wrong with writing securitisation with an s to fit with your general use of -ise. – Janus Bahs Jacquet Jul 21 '16 at 09:08