What Can the Danish Mortgage System Teach the United States?

The Danish mortgage system has received a good deal of attention over the past year, as house prices in Denmark peaked and declined, but the country avoided the type of foreclosure crisis gripping the United States. The Danish mortgage system is marked by specialized providers, tight regulation-but a fair amount of product innovation, and a financing system that combines covered bonds with an opportunity for a borrower to repay a mortgage by delivering the bond that financed the loan. How does this system work under stress? Could any parts of it be adopted in the United States to stabilize the US mortgage market? What would be the advantages and disadvantages or doing so, and how might a transition work?

Please join a small group for an informal and lively discussion. The event is sponsored by the New America Foundation and the Embassy of Denmark.

Participants

Featured Speakers
The Hon. Jens Thomsen
Governor of the Central Bank of Denmark

Susan Wachter
Professor of Real Estate and Finance, Wharton School
University of Pennsylvania

Daniel Alpert
Managing Director
Westwood Capital, LLC

Moderator
Ellen Seidman
Senior Fellow
New America Foundation