Brussels, 10/12/2008 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has published a report by London Economics highlighting the differences between national rules on mortgage lenders other than banks and insurance companies, active in the residential mortgage market. The study shows that these significant regulatory differences “create barriers to the cross-border provision of residential mortgages”. European integration in this market would be confronted with strong differences in the access to finance enjoyed by lending bodies, it concludes. With the exceptions of seven member states (Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Poland, Portugal and Slovakia), all EU countries allow this type of lender, whether national or foreign, to grant residential mortgages. Of the remaining 20 member states, 14 impose a form of registration on these companies, the other six (Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland and Latvia) do not set any conditions. The market share of these companies is generally low, with the highest being in the United Kingdom (12%) and the Netherlands (10%). For further information, go to: http: //ec.europa.eu/internal_market/finservices-retail/credit/mortgage_en.htm#studies (M.B./transl.rt)