The Home Mortgage Bank (HMB) was established under the Home Mortgage Bank Act, 1985 in response to early capital market development initiatives being pursued at that time, specifically, the creation of a secondary market for mortgage loans.
It was envisioned that the purchase and sale of mortgage loans through a secondary market would provide liquidity to the financial institutions engaged in mortgage lending, thereby increasing the availability of mortgage financing for housing loans.
In order to fulfill this obligation, the HMB was created as a privately managed mortgage institution and began operations in 1986, with the primary function of buying and selling mortgage loans. HMB’s mandate as stated in the Home Mortgage Bank Act (as amended) chap. 79:08 is to:
- Develop a mortgage market and maintain a secondary mortgage market in Trinidad and Tobago
- Contribute to the mobilization of long-term savings for investment in housing
- Support the development of a system of real property and housing finance and provide leadership in the housing and home finance industry
- Promote the growth of the capital market
In 2007, the operations of the HMB were expanded to include merchant banking, mortgage institution, trust company and collective investment schemes. Simultaneously, the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago was given the responsibility for the supervision of these new financial activities to be conducted by the HMB.
