Bolivia is expected to finalize regulations on mortgage securitization this month, paving the way for the first mortgage-backed deals from the country's private sector later this year.
Mortgage securitization "is in fashion in Bolivia," explained Oscar Alcaraz of the state-owned bank Nafibo. Four seminars on mortgage securitization have been held in the last two weeks alone, he said, adding that "everyone is in some way involved."
The country's private savings and loan institutions are in the process of setting up the country's first secondary mortgage market company, which should be established in the fall, he said.
And meanwhile, Nafibo, which aims to promote the secondary market, will conduct a feasibility study of mortgage securitization for the government by the end of this year, and aims to complete its first mortgage deal in the first half of next year. "One of our roles is to promote the market," Alcaraz said. "We aren't competing with the private sector." (ASRI, 12/14/98, p.9).
Bolivia's securities regulator, the CNV, is currently modifying a draft of the securitization regulation and is expected to issue a final version in the coming weeks. The country passed a securitization law modeled on Colombia's last year. - JB
