GE IPO: Company Laying Groundwork in Europe.(expansion plans)(General Electric)

When a firm files an "S1" statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, it usually includes all of its hopes, dreams and fears as the company prepares to sell its shares to the public.

The new S1 filed by General Electric on behalf of Genworth Financial - its mortgage insurance unit and related businesses - is no exception, but what's interesting about the document is GE's plans for expansion into Europe and other overseas markets.

Genworth includes not just MI, but life insurance, long-term care insurance and other consumer-related businesses.

GE officials have spent a good deal of time laying the groundwork for MI expansion in Europe. "Our growth strategy depends partly upon the development of favorable legislative and regulatory policies throughout Europe that support increased homeownership and provide capital relief for institutions that insure their mortgage loan portfolios with private mortgage insurance."

The company notes that it has "collaborated" with government agencies to develop bank regulatory capital requirements that "provide incentives to lenders to implement risk transfer strategies such as mortgage insurance."

GE readily admits that "we have invested, and we will continue to invest, significant resources to advocate such a regulatory environment at the national and pan-European levels."

Just how great is the potential for MI in Europe? GE says the net premiums written by its international mortgage insurance unit "have increased by a compound annual growth rate of 44% for the two years ended Dec. 31."