Nov 15 – Tooled up
Mortgage sourcing systems have become a vital piece of the adviser armoury. Advisers know that there are occasional issues with data accuracy although this is strongly managed by both lenders and the sourcing engines. As the systems have developed, the range of fields that are available have grown, but the binary nature of many them […]
Nov 15 – Stormy Waters
One of the biggest issues facing advisors following MMR is managing their potential conflicts of interest. This issue is only going to be emphasised following the arrival next year of the Mortgage Credit Directive and then the dawning of the new Senior Persons regime in intermediary space in 2017. MMR and MCD both make it […]
Nov 15 – Senior Persons for Intermediaries
The arrival of the Senior Persons regime for the wider mortgage market is a positive step forward. This delivers a level playing field with our lender partners, a principle that AMI has long argued should be a fundamental in the market. It delivers through a more formal setup, certainty over the existing responsibilities that firms and […]
Oct 15 – Early pantomime season
As the summer tans fade, the party conference season has provided the kind of entertainment usually seen in holiday camps around the UK coast or served up at all inclusive venues around the Mediterranean. The renewed vigour of UKIP, the return of old Labour and the spectre of ten years of Tory rule has brought a […]
Oct 15 – Pay Fair
As an industry we have positively subscribed to both FOS and FSCS as important safety nets for consumers when things go wrong. Whilst many in the investment space are critical of FOS, the mortgage fraternity are mostly supportive. Where real pain is being suffered is the rising tide of failed investment advice firms falling into FSCS […]
Sept 15 – MCD is coming
Any broker or firm that has not read the AMI or FCA publications on the Mortgage Credit Directive needs to start looking at these now. All firms need to make decisions about whether they will be offering second charge mortgages as part of their service and if they are interested in consumer buy-to-let business. All […]
Sept 15 – Rates and Debates
The mortgage market is going from strength to strength at the moment with remortgage volumes picking up well. This is off the back of both extremely attractive rates being offered by lenders and a general fear being expressed in the popular press that we are getting close to a rise in bank base rate. Whilst […]
Sept 15 – As the UK economy edges towards an interest rate rise, who matters more: savers or borrowers?
It is now perceived wisdom that the only way for interest rates is up. This is despite the original Bank of England policy that QE would be unwound before increasing base rates. That assurance has been quietly dropped. The issue for most banks and building societies is what action they should take. It has to […]
Sept 15 – Falling for the advice gap
The Financial Advice Market Review under the joint stewardship of Treasury and FCA has been given both a wide scope and a compressed timescale to report. When compared to the lengthy consideration and construction periods given to both the RDR and MMR, this is lightning quick. Because of this the project team, the expert advisory […]
Aug 15 – “Are free legals and valuations a good idea?”
There is no such thing as a free lunch is a phrase often quoted, and I consider that free legals and valuations offers from some lenders fall into that same pot. As firms of all types compete to win business, the price to the consumer is often used as the competitive lever. As an industry […]
