LONDON, May 21 -- Genworth Financial issued the following news release:

Monmouthshire Building Society has appointed Genworth Financial (NYSE:GNW) as its new mortgage indemnity insurance (MII) provider, effective May 2012.

In 2010, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) issued guidelines to building societies advising them to have appropriate risk mitigation measures in place, such as MII when offering high loan-to-value (LTV) products. In order that the next generation of homebuyers are not disenfranchised from owning their own home, Monmouthshire Building Society and Genworth Financial worked together to provide a practical and viable solution for borrowers.

Patrick Bamford, responsible for business development of Genworth's mortgage insurance business in the UK, observes: "It's important for borrowers and the UK economy that people can aspire and buy their own homes and for the past decade we've been at the forefront of encouraging wider access to home ownership. This requires bringing to market more affordable mortgages that will appeal to a greater number of borrowers whilst at the same time providing a prudent means of making that lending possible. Taken together, these measures will help return the UK housing market to a more stable position as well as assisting many thousands of people to fulfil their ambition of home ownership."

Andrew Lewis, managing director, Monmouthshire Building Society, adds: "We recognise that, for many, securing a large deposit remains a barrier to home ownership and therefore include high LTV loans as part of our wide choice of residential mortgages. We remain committed to responsible lending and mortgage indemnity insurance is one of the controls we have in place to ensure this. Genworth Financial listened to our needs and worked hard to come up with a flexible product solution. The offering is the best in the market place for our needs and we are delighted to be working with them."

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