A message from Stephen Gay, Director General

I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you a Happy New Year and I trust that you had a joyful festive period. And what better time than the new year to launch our 'new look' Connect newsletter.

Connect is a monthly publication, featuring a round-up of all the latest AMI news, events and initiatives. All of which you benefit from as AMI members. We hope you find it all interesting.

Having started my role at the beginning of December, I join AMI during a period of great change for the industry; we have a new government and major changes are occurring to the regulatory structure.

Additionally, the centre of gravity for regulation is shifting towards Brussels. Increasingly, the European perspective is becoming the driving influence on financial services in this country presenting new challenges to the operating environment for our members.

With this in mind it is important to ensure that AMI remains relevant and responsive to you, its membership. To achieve this we are conducting a strategic review. The review aims to establish the on-going objectives for the organisation, clarifying our purpose and the value we bring to you. The first part of this work is a member survey.

The findings from this work will remain confidential. The insights will feed into our internal process and none of the detailed results will be published.

Your insights and feedback are central to this process. Now is the time to have your voice heard and help to shape the future of AMI. Take the AMI membership survey today - DEADLINE: FRIDAY 21 JANUARY @ 17:00

Looking towards the year ahead, this is an exciting time for AMI and I am approaching the challenges with enthusiasm. I think the biggest challenge in the short term is to maintain a united front in the way the advisory community presents itself to policymakers.

The more we are able to work from a broad consensus the more effective we will be. I hope our strategic review will provide some clarity on some of these issues and enable AMI to step forward with confidence and conviction in the months and years ahead.

Monthly news round-up

FSA issues ‘dear compliance officer’ letter requiring a review into compliance with oral disclosure requirement on protection sales	FSA issues final rules on training, competence and ethics
FSA has issued a ‘Dear Compliance Officer’ letter regarding the application of the new oral disclosure regime in the Insurance Conduct of Business Sourcebook (ICOBS). FSA’s post implementation review of ICOBS identified significant failures by firms concerning oral disclosure in sales of protection products. Therefore, FSA has written to all firms that sell protection products to reiterate its ICOBS requirements... Read more	Back in June 2010 FSA issued their proposals for amendments to the APER and Training and Competence regime. They have now issued their final rules in this area. 30 month rule One of the main points to note is the introduction of a 30 month rule for obtaining qualifications. This rule came into force on 1 January 2011 and will be in place for new entrants... Read more

Forthcoming events

AMI events

AMI Annual Dinner
Tuesday 14 June , 2011
London, UK

Gathering over 200 leading industry figures, senior politicians, regulators and journalists, the AMI Annual Dinner provides the perfect opportunity to make important contacts, meet with your peers and engage in serious discussion about the future of the profession with the industry elite... Read more

For more information, log onto our events section.

Featured publication

AMI Quarterly Economic Bulletin
Volume 16 | November 2010

The Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI) has today released its latest Quarterly Economic Bulletin looking at the economy, housing and mortgage markets.

AMI has predicted a generally flat and benign mortgage market in the coming months. the economy, housing and mortgage markets.

Robert Sinclair, Director of AMI, said: "The spending review and debates around quantitative easing indicate that maintaining the balance between fiscal integrity and ensuring economic recovery remain key issues for policy makers... Read more

For more information on all of our publications, log onto our publications section.

This information has been prepared for the members and contacts of the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries. The information and options expressed in this document are not necessarily comprehensive and do not purport to give professional advice. If you would like specific information or assistance please call your usual contact, at AMI.

The information contained in this email is intended only for the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. It may contain privileged and confidential information and if you are not an intended recipient you must not copy, distribute or take any action in reliance on it. If you have received this email in error, please notify us immediately by telephone on 020 7628 1287.

www.a-m-i.org.uk is a site operated by the Association of Independent Financial Advisers (“We, “us” or “our). AIFA and the Association of Independent Financial Advisers, a company limited by guaranteed, registered in England and Wales under Companies Acts with number 3779289.  

Our registered office is 100 Fetter Lane, London, EC4N 1BN.  Our main trading address is Austin Friars House, 2-6 Austin Friars, London EC2N 2HD.

Also,www.aifa.net and www.theafb.net are site’s operated by Association of Independent Financial Advisers (AIFA) and Association of Finance Brokers (AFB) and are trading names of the Association of Independent Financial Advisers.