Calls for more openness from CMHC denied

Calls to CMHC from one leading economics professor to disclose details about the risks in its portfolio have been denied under the guise that the information is commercially sensitive.

Calls to CMHC from one leading economics professor to disclose details about the risks in its portfolio have been denied under the guise that the information is commercially sensitive.

“They used this as an excuse to cloak what they were doing,” Dr. Ian Lee, director of the MBA program at Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business told the Huffington Post.

Lee called for the disclosure because he believes Canadian taxpayer have a right to know just what kind of risk the insured mortgage game presents, according to the Huffington Post.

Addressing potential risks has been a priority for the Crown Corporation for some time now, with potential risk sharing being one of the measures mentioned.

“In our role as an adviser to government, we are evaluating a range of ideas on future improvements to our housing finance system, including risk-sharing with lenders to further confront moral hazard, future sandbox changes if housing markets are to become less stable, and increased capital requirements,” CMHC President and Chief Executive Officer Evan Siddall told the Saint James Club in late September.

“Lots of work has been done on how corporations can better manage commercial risks, but in my view, too little attention has been paid to government’s management of tail risk.

Insured mortgages currently accounted for $539.8 billion in residential mortgages in Q2 2014 -- 58 per cent of all mortgages originated in that time.