July 15 – Onward and Upwards
The UK economy continues to look positive following George Osborne’s second budget of 2015. Economic growth is predicted to continue in the positive, within a range of 2.5% to 3.0% per annum for the near term. This is a strong positon given conditions in other developed nations and the built in uncertainty of both a […]
July 15 – The FCA thematic on advice post-MMR
The FCA has published its long-awaited thematic report on advice and distribution, following the Mortgage Market Review (MMR). This report is a further important milestone in the MMR journey. It sets out with some clarity the things that the industry needs to improve upon and acknowledges areas where we have made good progress. This document […]
Your 2015/16 invoice for FCA fees
Members will be aware from our earlier messages and the considerable noise in the trade press that they are likely to see a significant rise in their FCA invoice in 2015.
June 15 – Why has the remortgage market not taken off?
With mortgage rates at lifetime lows, which in my case is a lot of years, it is absurd that remo volumes remain firmly rooted at low levels. What is it that is preventing more borrowers from moving to lower rates? What is becoming clear with all the work AMI is doing on mortgage and property […]
June 15 – What should an ERC be?
When AMI first reviewed the European Mortgage Directive text, we felt that the sense of the text meant significant change for UK lenders. We were surprised when the FCA indicated that they were not intending to change their rules. AMI spends significant time looking at the rules that directly impact brokers, and less on the […]
June 15 – The proposal for seconds
One of the biggest decisions all mortgage firms will have to make to implement the provisions of the Mortgage Credit Directive is whether to include second charge loans in their scope of service. For many years, the vast majority of firms have been used to telling consumers that they cannot cover lender direct deals, further […]
The Mortgage Credit Directive: changes for all brokers
The FCA will be implementing new rules for brokers and lenders in both first and second charge markets from 21 March 2016, as a result of the Mortgage Credit Directive.
MAY 2015 – The real lending into retirement conundrum
As working patterns change and we have a more active elderly population with more people will wanting to phase in their retirement, the industry will come under increasing pressure to provide advice on more flexible mortgage products. Indeed we will need to create these products. Perceived industry wisdom has been driven the by FSA in […]
MAY 2015 – When Advice goes wrong
On top of huge increases in FCA fees, mortgage firms are being asked to pay for the despicable advice given by some investment advisers to place Self Invested Personal Pension funds into poorly performing unregulated investments. These pension advisers have taken the huge commissions and run for the hills leaving mortgage brokers who did the […]
MAY 2015 – What is in a title?
Whether we label ourselves as mortgage brokers, advisers, sellers, consultants or managers, it probably does not matter to the average consumer who is just looking for an expert to point them in the right direction. What is important is that whoever the customer sits in front of, they have an abundant quantity of current market […]
MAY 15 – New Plans for a New Era
By the time this is published we should have a new government with a mandate to govern for 5 years, unless voted down. This new team inherit a very different set of issues than their predecessors. It is easy to forget that 5 years ago we were still looking over the edge of the financial […]
APR 2015 – Bringing the Directive to life
As MMR reaches its first anniversary, we are months away from what could be a potentially chaotic period caused by having to implement the European Mortgage Directive. The final date for implementation of most of the directive provisions is 21 March 2016, but the rules will allow firms to implement early, with the option, if […]
