Namfisa rejects idea that FIMA stifles housing access …as fault lines exposed over retirement-funded home finance
Namibia’s housing finance debate has intensified after the Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (Namfisa) rejected suggestions that the Financial Institutions and Markets Act (FIMA) is at odds with efforts to expand access to housing. Meanwhile, a pension fund industry expert has challenged the regulator’s explanation of how the law will work in practice. At the... The post Namfisa rejects idea that FIMA stifles housing access …as fault lines exposed over retirement-funded home f
Namibia’s housing finance debate has intensified after the Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (Namfisa) rejected suggestions that the Financial Institutions and Markets Act (FIMA) is at odds with efforts to expand access to housing. Meanwhile, a pension fund industry expert has challenged the regulator’s explanation of how the law will work in practice.
At the centre of the dispute is Section 282 of FIMA, which governs direct housing loans provided by retirement funds to their members. Namfisa insists that the requirement for such loans to be secured by a first mortgage is neither new nor intended to prevent members from accessing retirement-funded housing finance.
The regulator stated that FIMA simply continues a requirement that existed under the repealed Pension Funds Act of 1956.
“FIMA requires direct housing loans granted by retirement funds to be secured by a first mortgage over immovable property on which a dwelling house has been or will be erected,” Namfisa stated late last week.
