Feb 20 – The dangerous devil in the detail
The long-awaited Policy Statement on Mortgage Advice and Selling Standards has now been published by the FCA. Whilst the policy changes came into effect from 31 January there are transitional provisions that run to 30 July 2020 which allows firms to defer application. The FCA have stated that they are implementing all their consultation proposals […]
Feb 20 – The politics of investing
Having spent 2016 and 2017 working on the last fundamental review of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme it is fascinating to see investment advisers lobbying their MPs in droves as to its unfairness. I am not sure where they were during that review, other than Ken Davy of SimplyBiz who was very vocal in advocating […]
Jan 20 – Residential Renaissance
As we leave behind the election, the new government has a range of challenges facing it. One amongst many is the housing dilemma, in that all parties committed in their manifestos to get Britain building even more. The delivery of new homes, and the achievement of building 240,000 over the past 12 months, falls short […]
Jan 20 – Changes at the FOS
The New Year will bring a consultation on changes to the funding of the Ombudsman service. It appears that the PPI debacle has masked a savage increase in overheads at the service where the PPI case fees have subsidised a huge cost transformation. As these cases run off the industry is now being asked to […]
Jan 20 – The shifting view on income protection
The phrase ‘mortgage protection products are sold; they are not bought’ surfaces time and time again. But this is true in a post-MMR (Mortgage Market Review) world where the core mortgage advice and application process takes a significant amount of time, resulting in protection conversations that too often happen too late in the process and […]
Dec 19 – The price of “free”dom
In the past I have been critical of the marketing by lenders of “free valuations” and “free legals”. News is reaching me again of significant delays in purchase and re-mortgage cases as the service provided through some conveyancers are at crisis point. I remain confused as to how this can occur. The lender offering the […]
Dec 19 – Cultural Awareness
As a responsible trade body, AMI has always wanted an effective and efficient regulator. In the FCA we have in the past enjoyed an open and participative approach built on mutual trust. The MMR and FSCS funding consultation being two shining examples. In support of FCA we have always had outstanding access and very open […]
Nov 19 – The gift of SM&CR
With the FCA’s Senior Manager & Certification Regime (SM&CR) due to be extended across financial services businesses from 9 December 2019, I would have expected more noise from small to medium sized advice firms complaining about the complexity. It makes me wonder if firms have actually recognised the need to do something. All firms should […]
Nov 19 – Remember, Remember the 9th of December
This is the magic date when we migrate from the Financial Conduct Authority’s Approved Persons regime to the new Senior Managers regime. Further changes will occur during 2020 when firms will have to complete activity to comply with the new rules covering Certification and the Directory, which replaces some aspects of the FCA Register. All […]
Nov 19 – Goldilocks forgets the porridge
After a process as long as Brexit, the FCA has finally coughed up its new affordability rules to deal with the trapped borrower issue. The call for inputs on its Mortgages Market Study was in October 2015, followed by the Feedback Statement in May 2016 resulted in the publication of the Terms of Reference in […]
