To protect lenders, mortgage registry to cover more assets

New Delhi  B L Jan. 10: 2014

Banks and lending institutions may soon be required to file with a central registry all information on loans sanctioned for gold jewellery, plant and machinery, corporate brands and logos.

A legal working group set up by CERSAI and International Finance Corporation, under the chairmanship of M. R. Umarji, Chief Legal Advisor, Indian Banks’ Association, has recommended that the scope of CERSAI be expanded to cover movable assets, tangibles and intangibles.

CERSAI (Central Registry of Securitisation Asset Reconstruction and Security Interest of India), a state-owned entity, currently operates a central registry with which information on all equitable mortgages is filed by lending institutions.

This legal working group has also recommended to the Finance Ministry that the scope of CERSAI be expanded to cover all kinds of mortgage transactions.

Transactions rising

The total number of transactions on the CERSAI portal is nearly 10 million and is continuously expanding. As many as 378 lending institutions are registered with CERSAI.

CERSAI was established with the main objective of protecting the lenders against frauds/misrepresentations and preventing multiple financing against the same asset (immovable property in the current scenario).

Any move to enhance the scope of CERSAI will enhance the confidence among lenders and result in efficient pricing of loans for such activities, including movable assets and intangibles such as corporate logos, R. V. Verma, Chairman and Managing Director, National Housing Bank, said here on Thursday.

The report of the legal working group was released by Namo Narain Meena, Minister of State for Finance.

Though recent years have witnessed expansion of housing finance market and private sector participation in the growth of housing sector, there is a need for matching growth and expansion in the supply of serviced land and infrastructure, Meena added

Expanding scope Central registry currently covers only equitable mortgages Joint legal group recommends expanding scope to all mortgages 

Also, calls for coverage of movable assets, intangibles