OREANDA-NEWS. December 6, 2007. IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, in collaboration with GenRe, a leading Russian reinsurance company, has developed a mortgage insurance glossary, IFC's press service reported. This document provides the industry with standard definitions of insurance terminology used in residential mortgage lending in Russia. It was developed in response to a request by the Russian Federal Insurance Supervision Service and was presented to key stakeholders last week.

Over the past few months, IFC and a technical working group of leading Russian insurance industry players drafted more than 90 terms, many of which were not consistently used in regulation or legislation documents. By providing standard terminology and definitions that are approved by all industry stakeholders, the new glossary will help create efficiencies in how insurance and mortgage lending industries operate and how they communicate with the public.

"Standardizing insurance terminology, especially for residential mortgage lending, is vital in light of processes in international financial markets," said Ilya Lomakin-Rumyantsev, Head of the Russian Federal Insurance Supervision Service.

"Considering the role of insurance and its place in developing Russia’s mortgage market, the glossary will allow local insurance companies to communicate more efficiently with mortgage lenders, borrowers, and investors in residential mortgage-backed securities," said Katerina Levitanskaya, IFC Deputy Manager for the Russia Primary Mortgage Market Development Project.

The IFC Russia Primary Mortgage Market Development Project is partly funded by the governments of the Netherlands and Switzerland.