Mar 19 – Help to Buy (England) and lenders SVRs/ follow-on rates – lender and broker communications from Homes England
This note is to advise firms of a second affordability check now applied by agents of Homes England
Mar 19 – Changes to FOS limits and linked Professional Indemnity Insurance cover
Background Following consultation, the FCA has decided to increase the ombudsman service’s award limit to £350,000 for complaints about acts or omissions by firms which take place on or after 1 April 2019.
Mar 19 – Reporting on GABRIEL
Firms will have recently submitted their RMAR returns on GABRIEL but may not have been aware of changes to income reporting.
Mar 19 – Keeping AMI busy
The Government and the Treasury Select Committee have been increasing pressure on the FCA to do more to help borrowers trapped on SVR or what some might consider to be penal rates of interest often as a result of their loan being sold to an asset manager. This has been a campaigning point for AMI […]
Mar 19 – Changes to FOS
This month the FCA announced it is ploughing ahead with increasing the award limit for the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) from 1 April. Seemingly the majority of those who responded to its proposals strongly disagreed, including AMI, yet the FCA has said “this has not changed our view” and plans to implement all of its […]
Feb 19 – Realtek
I have been listening intently to where we, as an industry, are on the technology journey with a wide range of firms investing in the future of how intermediaries interact with consumers and lenders. Firstly, we have the traditional broking firms who are developing their own solutions or bolting in third party systems to enhance […]
Feb 19 – Fair recruitment
I’ve heard a firm say that equality and diversity isn’t an issue because they ‘hire the best people for the job’. This narrow view doesn’t recognise that if a firm does not put equality and diversity at the heart of their recruitment process, they might not be reaching a wide range of talent in the […]
Feb 19 – Threats of legal action
Following our communications in November and December on dealing with data subject access requests from legal firms and CMCs,
Jan 19 – Culture
Culture in financial services has become a priority for both the PRA and FCA as well as government and select committees. It is recognised that culture is a key root cause of major conduct failings that have occurred within the industry in recent history. There is an expectation on firms to focus on fostering good […]
Jan 19 – The tide of debt
The recently published Sector Views from the Financial Conduct Authority sets out the evolving landscape of our mortgage market. With 13.5million mortgage accounts outstanding and balances reaching almost £1.4trillion, this is a significant part of the UK economy. Of particular note is the term of that debt. Only 42% of first time buyers in 2007 […]
