Launch of the Reverse Mortgage Programme

The Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation Limited (HKMC) today (Monday) held a signing ceremony for its Reverse Mortgage Programme (RMP) which provides elderly people aged 60 or above with an additional financial planning option to enhance their quality of life.

A total of seven banks participated in the signing ceremony today as the first batch of pilot banks intending to offer reverse mortgage loans under the RMP. Wing Lung Bank, Bank of China (Hong Kong), Nanyang Commercial Bank, and Bank of East Asia will start receiving applications for the RMP product from today. Bank of Communications Hong Kong Branch, Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) and Wing Hang Bank will be introducing the product very soon. The interest rate to be charged by banks on the loans will be the Hong Kong Prime Rate^[1] minus 2.5% per annum.

At the signing ceremony, the Deputy Chairman of the HKMC and the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Mr Norman T.L. Chan, said: “Reverse mortgage is a brand new loan product to serve the elderly people in Hong Kong. According to the projections of the Census and Statistics Department, the elderly dependency ratio in Hong Kong (i.e. the number of persons aged 65 or above relative to the number of persons aged between 15 and 64) will drop significantly from 1:5.6 to 1:2 thirty years later. This demonstrates the importance of the need for the elderly people to do financial planning. The HKMC will work with the banks and relevant elderly agencies to publicise the scheme and inform the elderly of this new choice that they will have. For those elderly persons who wish to make use of reverse mortgage, they should consult a registered counsellor to understand the details of their rights and obligations so that they would be in a better position to make a considered decision.”

In order to inform the public on the benefits and obligations associated with reverse mortgage loans, the HKMC has published a leaflet (Annex A) and a brochure with more details (Annex B), which will be available from participating banks, certain elderly services centres, and the HKMC website (www.hkmc.com.hk). The HKMC will also organise a series of public promotional activities, such as holding public seminars and broadcasting promotional videos, to introduce reverse mortgage to the elderly people.

Details of the RMP, including the product features and the list of registered counsellor, are available at the HKMC website (www.hkmc.com.hk). For public enquiries, please call the RMP hotline at 2536 0136.

Annex A

Annex B

The Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation Limited
11 July 2011

Photo caption: The Deputy Chairman of the Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation Limited and the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Mr Norman T. L. Chan (fifth from left), together with Executive Director of the HKMC and Deputy Chief Executive of the HKMA, Mr Peter Pang (sixth from left), the Chief Executive Officer of the HKMC, Mr James Lau (fourth from left) and representatives of seven banks at the Signing Ceremony for the Reverse Mortgage Programme.

^[1] The Hong Kong Prime Rate as announced by the HKMC from time to time