Four draft mortgage laws finalised

The Finance Ministry and the National Bank of Romania have finalised a set of laws for the development of the mortgage market following commitments made as part of the PAL programme signed with the World Bank. The primary legislation for the mortgage market has to be passed by March of this year, with secondary legislation to be passed by September. The government will first approve the modification of Law 190/1999 on mortgages for real estate investments, which aims to improve the current legal framework applicable to primary mortgage credit market, and the draft law on mortgage banks. The same set of legislation also includes a law on mortgage bonds, creating a suitable legal framework for refinancing mortgage lending operations, and the draft law on the securitisation of receivables, which regulates commercial operations with these types of securities in general. ZF