Robert Sinclair AMI Director

Whilst the world for brokers and lenders is much the same as last year, the world of regulation continues to gather pace.  

I am concerned that lending volumes do not appear to be picking up and that whilst the numbers of properties on the market is escalating, there is no a rush of buyers and loans. 

House price data is very contradictory, indicating a flat market.

One of the pieces of good news is that Mortgage Business Expo returns to Manchester for the first time since a bunch of Glasgow Rangers fans took the city hostage. 

This is great news and I look forward to seeing all my friends in the North on the 19 May. 

AMI will be producing its usual set of seminar sessions to inform and provoke debate.

We await the European Commission delivering its first public draft of its directive on responsible mortgage lending and borrowing.

This will then allow the FSA (FCA) to deliver up its full impact analysis, and final rules for the Mortgage Market Review. 

However these are not for 2011, indeed I doubt many of the new rules will see implementation in 2012, but 2013 will be the key year of change. 

We at AMI will be observing this closely.

AMI Annual Dinner

Table sales for the AMI Dinner on 14 June are exceeding expectations. 

This is a key event in the intermediary calendar and allows us to promote our role in the best possible light whilst ensuring that we also raise funds in support of our important work. 

I hope to see many of you there.

Robert Sinclair
AMI Director

Monthly news round-up

AMI responds to FSA's CP10/28 Mortgage Market Review: Distribution and Disclosure	Join us at the AMI Annual Dinner	Treasury announces further regulatory proposals
AMI has today published its response to FSA’s Consultation Paper ‘Mortgage Market Review: Distribution and Disclosure’. AMI welcomes FSA’s continuing open consultation with industry on the MMR. However, the fragmented approach of dividing the various consultation papers into separate subjects impedes AMI’s ability to analyse the full impact of the proposals, their interrelationships and the consequent costs and benefits... Read more	We are pleased to announce that our 2011 Annual Dinner will be held on Tuesday 14 June, at Plaisterers Hall, London. Gathering over 200 leading industry figures, senior politicians, regulators, brokers and journalists, this event 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	The Treasury yesterday announced further proposals for the new regulatory regime in its latest consultation paper A new approach to financial regulation: building a stronger system. Yesterday’s proposals build on the Treasury’s previous consultation paper which was published in July last year and which prompted 220 responses from the industry, as well as a Treasury Select Committee enquiry... Read more
HM Treasury announces measures to move second charge lending to the FSA	Stamp Duty Land Tax avoidance schemes	Challenge to European gender laws could affect insurance premiums
Following its consultation last year HM Treasury has announced a package of measures designed to enhance consumer protection in the mortgage market. As part of these measures HM Treasury has confirmed that it will be transferring the regulation of new and existing second charge residential mortgages from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to the Financial Services Authority (FSA)... Read more	We have seen a number of members contacting us recently about the growing number of advertisements they are receiving from companies offering various forms of stamp duty land tax (SDLT) avoidance schemes. Most schemes claim that they offer tax mechanisms to mitigate the stamp duty to be paid on purchases of land plots, residential and commercial property... Read more	A change in European law could see insurance firms being barred from using gender as a factor when pricing risk. A Belgian consumer association is challenging an opt-out, which under European law allows insurance companies to use gender as a rating factor when pricing risk for their products... Read more
Treasury Committee calls for right not rushed regulation
The Treasury Committee (TSC), made up of MPs from across the three political parties, has today published its report on the Government's proposals for financial regulation, calling for more time to get it right. In July 2010, the Treasury published a consultation document, ‘A new approach to financial regulation: judgement, focus and stability’, which outlined their plans to abolish the tripartite system, and replace it with a 'twin peaks' structure, separating macro-prudential and conduct of business regulation... Read more

Forthcoming events

AMI events

AMI Annual Dinner
Tuesday 14 June , 2011 - Early bird ticket options ends 4 April
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 17 | January 2011

The latest AMI Quarterly Economic Bulletin has been published, setting out our current view of the economy, the mortgage and housing markets.

The bulletin sets out our expectations that the Q4 GDP figures will be revised upwards in coming weeks but inflation will continue to increase pressure for a rise in interest rates.

However, the MPC will continue to balance the competing risks of driving the economy backwards against the need to minimise the damaging impacts of inflation... Read more

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

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