Finance committee  Thank you. I'd be glad to respond. And perhaps Mr. Halde, who is participating in the consultations at least as much as I am, will add something. We'll see. The organizing principle of the facility is that it's going to purchase securities. They are called term asset-backed secu

Finance committee  We're purchasing mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. These are the same sorts of securities that are purchased on the market. Sometimes they are purchased as NHA mortgage-backed securities, which have mortgage-like flows, and some

Finance committee  There are both high-ratio and low-ratio mortgages, but they're all insured against default in the first instance by either CMHC or one of the private insurers.

Finance committee  The institutions that have spoken to us and have the most interest are the financing arms of the automakers, both Detroit-based and others. There's also interest from leasing companies, more generally, who do automotive leasing. There is also interest from equipment leasing compa

Finance committee  That's right, or it's from CMHC.

Finance committee  The purpose of the insurance requirement, and CMHC's normal operation in the market, is to provide default insurance for privately originated and privately held mortgages. We are doing something quite exceptional in purchasing those mortgages. The CMHC insurance program and the

Finance committee  You're referring to the non-bank-sponsored asset-backed commercial paper, for which the market froze in August 2007. A restructuring plan was devised for it by the private participants, and the deal finally closed in January of this year. The role of the federal government, in co

Finance committee  It is a contingent liability of the government, for which the government is being paid a fee.

Finance committee  To my knowledge, there is of course the Securities Exchange Commission in the United States. I believe that a few states hold responsibilities, but there is a single commission. You are right to tell me that despite its existence, the national regulatory securities commission was

Finance committee  Your question was how do we know we're not getting junk. So through the process of insuring mortgages, all the high-ratio mortgages are examined by the insurer on a loan-by-loan basis, and they have to meet the underwriting criteria of the insurer, whether it be CHMC or the priva

Finance committee  Firstly, Mr. Macklem was making reference to regulating mortgage markets in the United States, and not securities regulation. He was right in saying that regulation in the mortgage market is highly fragmented in the United States, and that the problems being experienced there are

Finance committee  The federal government acknowledged that there were recent improvements, but it is now proposing an additional improvement, in the form of the creation of a single commission.

Finance committee  The Basel agreement, signed onto by Canada and most other countries, deals with needs, or regulations on asset-to-capital ratios based on the risk inherent to those assets. For example, the risk associated with assets such as a government-insured mortgage would be zero, because

Finance committee  As I recall, you were looking for the last $50 billion of the $200 billion. An extraordinary liquidity provision by the Bank of Canada accounts for $40 billion of this. The $40 billion is a round number; this peaked at $41 billion in the fall and currently stands in the $30 billi

Finance committee  The Bank of Canada maintains a number of facilities, and it recently announced the creation of a new facility, by which they provide liquidity; so they lend, essentially, on the basis of security posted by financial institutions and other investors. This is done very much on a de