Updates, tips, events
Home Trust’s Update on COVID-19
March, 2020With the recent news on the COVID-19 outbreak in mind, Home Trust is here to help you. I would like to provide you with an update on the steps we’ve taken in the face of this rapidly changing environment. We’re confident that these actions ensure a business as usual approach despite these unusual circumstances.
Maintaining business operations
Home Trust remains open for business. We have implemented steps to ensure that employees can work remotely and that we can maintain operations with a minimum of interference. As circumstances change, we will continue to adapt our plans to address the safety of our staff and clients.
Thank you for your business, and for placing your trust in Home Trust. During this challenging time, we're working hard to ensure we can continue to work with you and your clients. As we continue to monitor the situation, we’ll provide further updates as required.
Best regards,
Melonie Dixon
Vice President, Deposits
French Correspondence
August, 2018All future client documents will now be made available in both official languages. This means that whenever French is selected on any new application forms, all subsequent documents will also be in French. This includes GIC confirmations, annual portfolio statements and everything else related to the client’s investments.
The only exception at this time is cheques, however we are expecting these to be available in French very soon, and currently anticipate this will be ready before the end of August.
We hope this new enhancement will be very useful to both you and your clients.
New identification requirements
June, 2018Based on the new Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada requirements to identify individuals and confirm the existence of entities under the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA) and associated Regulations, as of January 24, 2018 the following changes are effective immediately:
- Only one original valid photo identification is now required for each of your clients.
- For seniors (67 and over) and minors (12-17) where a primary photo is not available, they can be identified through two independent and reliable sources A newly created Dual Process Method document has also been created and can be located along with all our documents at hometrust.ca/deposits/broker-forms/
- Lastly, identifying an individual through the use of the credit file method is not available to brokers.
July, 2017
I am very pleased to share with you that as of August 3rd, Yousry Bissada will take on the role of President and Chief Executive Officer of Home Capital and its subsidiaries Home Trust Company and Home Bank.
Yousry is a proven leader in the financial and mortgage sector, with a career spanning 30 years that includes executive roles at institutions ranging from Big Banks to innovative FinTech companies.
Among those roles, he was previously Vice President of Servicing Operations at CIBC and Senior Vice President of Real Estate Secured Lending Products at TD Canada Trust. Currently, Yousry is President and CEO of Kanetix Ltd., a company that works with financial services firms to develop and implement digital and technology tools and offers a leading platform to source online quotes for financial products such as insurance. You can read more about Yousry’s background in the press release issued earlier this morning.
In late June 2017 we received the endorsement of Warren Buffett who, through his holding company Berkshire Hathaway, made a significant investment in Home Capital. The appointment of Yousry, a strong leader with a proven track record, further positions the company for success.
The results are showing. We continue to attract new deposits and are confident in our ability to support and expand our mortgage lending business.
The team at Home Capital is focused on the future, and excited about the outlook for the Company.
And of course, we are eager to help you meet the investing needs of your clients. Thank you, as always, for your support.
Best regards,
Benjy Katchen
EVP Deposits & Consumer Lending
Home Trust Company
A message from Benjy Katchen, EVP Deposits & Consumer Lending
June, 2017
You’ve likely already heard that Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has agreed to acquire C$400 million of Home Capital’s common shares as part of a private placement arrangement. In addition, Berkshire will also provide an additional C$2 billion line of credit facility to Home Trust.
“Home Capital’s strong assets, its ability to originate and underwrite well-performing mortgages, and its leading position in a growing market sector make this a very attractive investment,” explained Warren E. Buffett, Berkshire Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
This is a resounding endorsement of Home Capital by one of the industry’s most legendary and revered investors. You can read more about this important arrangement in the official press release.
So what does this mean for Home Capital?
Certainly, this agreement provides for the company’s near-term liquidity needs, but it also affords more breathing room as we continue to concentrate our efforts on restoring confidence and returning to positive growth. Together with last week’s announcement of a settlement agreement with the Ontario Securities Commission, it is clear that we are making excellent progress on these objectives.
On a personal note, I can tell you that everyone at Home Trust is excited by these new developments and remains committed to helping your clients achieve their investing goals.
I also encourage you to take a look at our updated GIC rates as both Home Trust and Home Bank offers some of the highest GIC returns available.
While the past two months have been difficult, I appreciate the support we have received from so many during this time. For that, you have my thanks and we look forward to being of service to you for many years to come.
Best regards,
Benjy Katchen
EVP Deposits & Consumer Lending
Home Trust Company
A message from Benjy Katchen, EVP Deposits & Consumer Lending
May, 2017
To our valued partners,
It’s no secret that the past few weeks have been a challenge for Home Capital and its subsidiaries.
We’re very aware that this situation has had a negative impact on our deposit broker partners, and we regret the stress it may have caused you and your clients.
Moving forward, we have taken many prudent steps to safeguard depositor interests.
Meeting all of our obligations remains our first priority. In the face of an unprecedented withdrawal of demand deposits, Home Capital secured a $2 billion line of credit to provide additional liquidity for potential HISA account withdrawals and maturing GICs.
Home Capital also recently announced an arrangement with a third party that wishes to purchase funded mortgages or accept mortgage commitments and renewals up to a total of $1.5 billion. The third party has also indicated an interest in expanding this arrangement at a later date. These actions are designed to put us on a path to restoring investor confidence.
Together with the steps we’ve taken to shore up our capital reserves, Home Capital has also moved very quickly to deliver on its governance renewal initiatives. Brenda Eprile, who serves as an independent director on the Home Capital Board, has been named Chair. Ms. Eprile has considerable financial market experience, including managing the risk consulting practice for the Canadian operations of a major global accounting firm. Ms. Eprile also served as a senior member of the Ontario Securities Commission as Chief of Staff (Executive Director).
In addition to the appointment of Ms. Eprile, three leading Canadian business people have also joined the Board to provide their expertise and guidance as we move forward: Sharon Sallows is an experienced director with public and private companies and has an extensive background in lending and investment across a wide range of industry groups, including real estate; Claude Lamoureux is the former Chief Executive Officer of the Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan and a co-founder of the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance; and Paul Haggis previously served as CEO of Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS), and is the former CEO of Alberta Treasury Branches.
With this exceptionally strong Board supporting our senior executive team, I have every confidence we are positioning ourselves well to put these challenges behind us.
Home Capital continues to offer deposits from both Home Trust Company and Home Bank, and both entities are members of the Canadian Deposit Insurance Corporation. That means all deposits remain eligible for full CDIC coverage, up to applicable limits.
We have made excellent progress over the past couple of weeks, but there is still considerable work to do to restore depositor confidence, and I thank you for your patience and support during this process.
You have my personal commitment that we will do everything possible to ensure we continue to provide for the investing needs of your clients, and I will continue to share updates with you as information becomes available.
Best regards,
Benjy Katchen
EVP Deposits & Consumer Lending
Home Trust Company
Get an extra 5 bps on GICs through Home Bank, our newest issuer!
February, 2017
It gives us great pleasure to introduce our second deposit issuer, Home Bank!
Home Bank is a wholly owned subsidiary of Home Trust Company, and a separate member of the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC).
So what does this news mean for you and your clients? Well, from now on, you'll be able to select either Home Bank or Home Trust Company as the issuer for all your client's future investments. And most importantly, since Home Bank and Home Trust Company are each separate members of CDIC, their deposits will be eligible for coverage under both issuers - providing a great opportunity to benefit even more from our excellent rates.
Not only that, but from now until April 28,2017, we're offering an extra 5 bps on our posted rates for all GICs issued through Home Bank!
Please note that our processes will remain the same for both issuers, and our current interest rates can always be found at hometrust.ca/deposits/deposit-rates/. As well, all our applications and forms have now been updated to include Home Bank, and these can be found at hometrust.ca/deposits/broker-forms.
CDIC Joint and Trust Disclosure By-law
April, 2016
For Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GICs) held in trust for two or more beneficiaries, the CDIC Joint and Trust Account Disclosure By-law requires that clients report annually by May 30th whether each beneficiary's interest in the deposit as at April 30th has changed or remained the same from the previous year. Providing us with this update is necessary to ensure that the trust deposit remains eligible for CDIC coverage separate from the CDIC coverage that applies to the clients' other deposits.
As required by the CDIC By-law, Home Trust Company will be sending a notification during the month of April to all affected clients informing them of this requirement. Clients will be advised to contact their Advisor to provide the required information. Please capture the beneficiaries' information on the new form "Joint Trust Beneficiary Information Form" and forward the completed form to our back office.
FATCA
April, 2016
As part of a Canada-U.S. tax treaty, Canadian financial institutions such as Home Trust are now required to assist in the implementation United States law known as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). A communication was sent to clients asking them to inform if they qualify as a U.S. taxpayer so that we can ensure we have the correct status on their records.