Company Now Able to Work With More Mortgage Lenders
to Increase Mexican Homeownership
RICHMOND, Va., Dec. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Genworth Financial, Inc.
(NYSE: GNW) has received the first authorization to incorporate a mortgage
insurance company in Mexico. Under the authorization, granted by Mexico's
Ministry of Finance, Genworth expects to begin writing mortgage insurance
directly in the country by the second quarter of 2007, after incorporating and
receiving final approval from Mexico's Insurance Commission and Ministry of
Finance.
"Mexico's housing and mortgage markets are poised for growth in both scale
and products," said Alejandro Rivero, chief executive officer of Genworth
Financial Mexico. "With this license, Genworth will play an important role in
the development of both.
"The financial and insurance authorities in Mexico have done a great job
drafting and passing the necessary legislation and regulations to create this
new line of business in Mexico," Rivero added. "It will help many Mexicans
buy their first homes, and we're looking forward to providing the products and
services that will help make that possible."
To meet increasing housing demand, the Mexican government has a stated
goal of increasing the rate of new home construction to 1,000,000 homes per
year in coming years, up from current levels of 750,000 per year. By
protecting against the risk of borrower default, mortgage insurance will make
it possible for lenders to prudently expand their mortgage product offerings
to include low down payment loans at competitive interest rates to meet that
demand.
Genworth Financial Mexico will make an initial investment of 330 million
pesos ($30 million) to start its mortgage insurance operation, headquartered
in Mexico City.
"This is a very important step for us in Mexico. With this license, we
will be able to offer our services to more lenders, which will benefit a
greater number of Mexicans," Rivero said. "With mortgage insurance, they will
be able to buy homes -- some with no down payment at all -- to achieve the
dream of homeownership."
Genworth is the leading global provider of mortgage insurance, with
operations in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and 10
countries in Europe. As in Mexico, the company has been the first private
provider of mortgage insurance in many international markets, expanding home
ownership by helping to create or build the low down-payment home mortgage
market.
"Customers around the world already benefit from our ability to share
products, technology and best practices across national boundaries. We're
very happy that now we're bringing them to Mexico," said Brian Hurley,
president of Genworth Financial's international mortgage insurance operations.
In Mexico, Genworth also offers Payment Protection Insurance to meet
monthly repayments of a financial commitment in the event of unemployment,
accident/sickness or death. Genworth Financial won the tender to provide
payment protection insurance to mortgage borrowers from Infonavit, Mexico's
largest mortgage provider. Genworth also offers automobile, property &
casualty, life and personal accident insurance through Genworth Seguros SA de
CV, which is headquartered in the City of Leon.
About Genworth
Genworth is a leading insurance holding company, serving the lifestyle
protection, retirement income, investment and mortgage insurance needs of more
than 15 million customers, and has operations in 24 countries. For more
information, visit http://www.genworth.com
SOURCE Genworth Financial, Inc.
CONTACT: Investors: Alicia Charity, +1-804-662-2248,
Alicia.Charity@genworth.com, or
Media: Terry Souers, +1-919-846-4459,
Terry.Souers@genworth.com,
both of Genworth Financial, Inc.
