2006 – 26th IUHF World Congress, Canada

The 26th IUHF World Congress took place in Canada under the  motto
“Housing Finance in Today’s World: Challenges, Opportunities and Crises”

 

Program

Day One – Wednesday, 20 September 2006 –
Housing Finance from a National Perspective, Opening Ceremony

Welcome by Ted McGovern – President, International Union for Housing Finance
Welcome by Karen Kinsley – President, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

Keynote Address 

Housing Bubbles and Bubble Markets – Implications for Policy Makers, the Housing Finance Industry and Consumers
Robert Shiller – Resor Professor of Economics – Department of Economics and Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics of Yale University, USA
Jim Power – Chief Economist and Director of Investment Strategy, Friends First, USA
Moderator: Director General, Adrian Coles Building Societies Assoc. UK

 

Session 1 – Housing Finance and the Economy – Trends and Issues in Selected Regions

Where is housing finance headed? Housing finance is undergoing a global transformation and it isn’t limited to a few developed economies. This session will consider trends and key challenges for the next 5 years from both the larger mortgage markets, as well as some of the fastest developing economies. What is setting each market apart from the others, what opportunities does this market present and what dangers will it face?

Mattias Persson Sveriges – Deputy Head of Financial Stability Department, Riksbank/BIS, Sweden
Anish Shah – Global Mortgage Director, GE Money
Manuel Zepeda – President – Inter-American Housing Union UNIAPRAVI, Latin America
Depak Parekh – Chairman, Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd.HDFC, India
Moderator: Torben Gjede – Director General and CEO, Realktreditradet Denmark

 

Session 2A. – Expansing the Reach of Housing Finance in Developing Countries & Emerging Economies

Making housing finance more affordable for more people and for underserved households is a challenge everywhere. Is housing finance more accessible today than five years ago? What are the recent success stories and promising new initiatives? What lessions have we learned? Are specialised housing finance institutions at risk with the growing involvements of universal commercial banks? This session will present succssful case studies from diverse continents.

Manuel Campos –  Vice President and Founding Partner Su Casita, Mexico
Kapil Wadhawan – Managing Director, Dewan Housing Finance CorporationDHFL, India
Cas Coovadia – Managing Director, The Banking Association, South Africa
Zaigham Mahmood Rizvi – Managing Director and Chairman, House Building Finance Corporation, Pakistan
Moderator: Anne Gaboury – President and Chief Executive Officer, Développement International Desjardins, Canada

 

Session 2B. – Basel II

Changes to the bank regulations for risk based capital are likely to have a profound impact on all housing finance institutions. National regulators will retain a great deal of discretion in how they interpret and implement Basel II. What is happening in key markets and how are housing finance institutions responding? How can small institutions compete with larger ones, or institutions from emerging markets compete with multinational institutions? What will be the impact on institutions offering instruments such as securitisations and mortgage insurance?

Andreas Lehnert – Senior Economist, US Federal Reserve, USA
Diane Casey Landry – President and Chief Executive Officer, America’s Community Banker, USA
Gary Miller – Senior Vice President and Director of International Legal and Regulatory Affairs, Genworth Financial, USA
Tomy Porter – Managing Director, PMI Mortgage Insurance Company
Moderator: Simon Walley – Head of Economic Affairs, European Mortgage Federation, Belgium

 

Session 3A. – Regulatory Framework for Mortgage Insurance in New Markets

Mortgage insurance has played an important role in the success of several developed markets. Mortgage insutrance companies by their nature take on large amounts of credit risk. To be viable, mortgage insurance must balance the promotion of better access to housing finance with the need to ensure safety and soundness of the insurance and financial sector. What is the best approach to regulate mortgage insurance companies? What approached have been tried in new mortgage insurance markets such as Mexico or Serbia and what has been learned? What is the perspective of a global operator on entering a new market?

Guillermo Babatz – Director General, Sociedad Hypotecara Federal, Mexico
Aleksandar Jovic – Managing Director, National Mortgage Ins. Corp., Serbia
Eric Klopfer – United Guarantee, USA
Moderator: T. Elliot – Director of International Housing Finance, CMHC, Canada

 

Session 3B. – Role of Government

For almost every sucessful mortgage market, government has played a critical role in the market’s development and on-going adaptation to changing environments. What have we learned from major developed and emerging markets about what works and what doesn’t? More generally, what tools should governments apply and at what stages? When is it time for government to turn things over to the private sector? And what is the optimal balance between government and the private sector?

Khan Prachuabmoh – President, Government Housing Bank, Thailand
Alex Pollock – Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute, USA
Michael Coogan – Director General, Council of Mortgage Lenders, UK
Moderator: Loic Chiquier – Lead Housing Finance Specialist  in the Financial Sector, Operations and Policy Department, The World Bank

 

DAY 2 -Thursday, 21 September 2006 – Housing Finance from a Business Perspective

Session 4 – Natural Disasters and Housing Finance: The Cases of Turkey and New Orleans

Natural disasters have devastating effects on families and their loved ones. Survivors face the bureaucracy of insurance claim policies, pledged government support and/or depleting their savings in order to rebuild their housing or find new shelter. How have individuals and institutions coped through recent disasters in New Orleans and Turkey? Are there new roles for housing finance or insurance institutions?

Jay Brinkman – Vice President of Research and Economics, Mortgage Bankers Association, USA
Feyzullah Yetgin – General Manager, Association of Real Estate Invest. Companies (GYODER)
Moderator: Stephen Timewell – Editor-in-Chief, The Banker

 

Session 5 – Primary Market: Going Global? (9:30-10:45)

Building on domestic success, more and more mortgage lenders are exploring other markets. What is their strategic rationale for going global? What are the biggest risks and challenges for these mortgages lenders? What have been their preferred strategies? And most importantly, what have been the results? Should we expect an acceleration of this trend? This session will examine four case studies.

Renu Karnad – Joint Managing Director, Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited, India
Christopher Nordeen – President, GMAC-RFC, USA
Patrick Field – Senior Manager, Mortgage Distribution International Division, Bank of Nova Scotia
Andreas Zehnder – General Manager, European Federation of Building Societies, Germany
Moderator: Herbert Pfeiffer – Member of the Board of Management, Prvá Stavebná Sporitelna, Slovakia

 

Session 6 – Secondary Market: Issues and Challenges (11:00-12:30)

As mortgage lending continues to grow throughout the globe, developing responsive and varied funding mechanisms become more critical. What does the future look like for mortgage bonds and securitisation in the USA and Europe? How has the secondary mortgage market evolved in Mlaysia and what instruments have been successful?

Michael Lea – Principal, Cardiff Economic Consulting, USA
Louis Hagen – Executive Director, European Covered Bonds Committee
Executive Director, Raj Vikash Verma – National Housing Bank, India
Moderator: Britt Gwinner – The World Bank

 

Session 7A. – IFI’s, Multilateral and Bilateral Institutions: Lessons Learned in Housing Finance

The housing industry can be a major economic driver and therefore, within emerging and developing markets, several multilateral and bilateral agencies are raising their priority on the housing finance sector. This session will explore a number of critical questions such as: What is the best housing finance model? What is the right time to launch liquidity instruments or credit risk instruments? How do we create an operating environment in these new markets where local or regional companies can compete on an equal basis with North American and European companies?

Kenroy Dowers – Head of Housing Finance, International Finance Corporation
Loïc Chiquier – Lead Housing Finance Specialist  in the Financial Sector, Operations and Policy Department, The World Bank
Robert Bestani – Director General of the Private Sector Finance Department, Asian Development Bank
Gerhard Engel – Manager Business Development Africa, Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO)
Moderator: Soula Proxenos – Principal, Housing Solutions International

 

Session 7B. – Innovation / Alternative Housing Finance

Competition is a powerful driver of innovation and responses vary in different markets. Flexibility is the key for new mortgage products and services available in the United Kingdom. Some lenders, small and large, want to increase their competitiveness in off shoring their back office functions – how has this worked? In developing regions, new institutions are addressing specialised or underserved markets such as Shariah-compliant mortgages.

Mike Lazenby – Director, Kent Reliance Building Society, UK
Larry Banda – Head of Mortgage, Nationwide Building Society, UK
Tahir Naseem – Responsible for all structured real estated finance transactions, Univorn Investment Bank
Friedemann Roy – Senior Project Manager, Bankakademie, Germany
Moderator: Calder Hart – Director, Home Mortgage Bank

General Council Meeting 

 

DAY 3 – Friday, 22 September 2006 – Housing Finance from a Consumer Perspective

Business respond to massive demands from an educated public with ever-increasing flexibility in products. But, in order to qualify borrowers, businesses need more private data – how are legislation and the industry handling this potential conflict? What is the basis for competition in different markets today – what separates  the leaders?

 

Session 8 – Housing Finance and the Consumer

This session will explore the critical issues currently being debated in major regions and countries concerning consumer protection. Do laws and legal practices fairly represent the rights of both mortgage institutions and consumers? How can credit bureaus or other institutions that collect and disburse this data best abide by these laws and maintain ethical practices? What is the public perception of privacy questions? Is consumer over-indebtedness an issue? Whose issue is it?08:30 – 08:50 Doug Duncan -Mortgage Bankers Association , USA

Chumpunute Sumanaseni – Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Government Housing Bank, Thailand
Annik Lambert – Secretary General, European Mortgage Federation, Europe
Moderator: Matthew Bullock – Chief Executive Officer, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, UK

 

Session 9 – How Organizations Adapt to New Consumer Needs 

How do leading companies attract and retain customers? What feedback mechanisms do they employ to identify consumer needs and preferences? What is their customer service philosophy and how are they organised to deliver it? What has been the impact? Leaders and wared winning institutions tell us how it is done.

Tony Moroney – Director, EBS Building Society
Ian Warner –  Chief Operating Officer, VanCity, Canada
Andy Bielanski – Senior Managing Director of Marketing and Corporate Communications, Countrywide, USA
Moderator: Johhan Ertl – Executive Director, Raiffeissen Bausparkasse

 

Session 10 – Lessons Learned and Best Practices 

Review and summary of discussions, conclusions and learning points from previous two and a half days.

Annik Lambert – Secretary General, European Mortgage Federation, Europe
Cas Coovadia – Managing Director, The Banking Council, South Africa
Manuel Zepeda – President, UNIAPRAVI, South America
Doug Duncan – Senior Vice President/Chief Economist, Mortgage Bankers Association, USA
Pierre David – Executive Director, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
Moderator: Adrian Coles – Director General, Building Societies Association, UK

Closing Speech: Incoming President, International Union for Housing Finance

 

Past Congress Agendas: