Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 27 November 2014

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform

Mortgage Insurance Schemes: Discussion

10:35 am

Mr. Angel Mas:

One can consider several experiences internationally. In Europe, for instance, it was mentioned before that Italy has something called Fondiaria status since 1995, so through regulatory benefits practically all high LTV loans are protected at this point and benefit from that status. Finland always had mortgage insurance, where it was prevalent, but recently new regulation has been imposed. There is now a soft cap, which is what we would propose here, so that banks can give up to 80% LTV loans. In the case of Finland, it is actually 75%, but they can only go beyond that with additional guarantees, of which mortgage insurance is the most important. We always mention Canada because it is considered the most prudent and resilient market in the world. In Canada, mortgage insurance is compulsory, since the 1950s, for an LTV of over 80%.

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