The deadline for applications, which will be dealt with in time for the implementation of regulation in October, is the end of April.
Director of AMI, Chris Cummings, said: “MCCB letters started to arrive just as the discount period ended. The trade body has also been very busy on the visit and inspection front. The MCCB could take a back step while brokers get their FSA applications in.”
The MCCB has denied putting undue pressure on brokers. Brad Baker, head of communications at the MCCB, said: “There has been no increase in overall compliance activity, it has remained the same as any other period. We have to maintain our compliance activity in order to remain compatible with our brief from the Treasury to stay operational until the end.”
Meanwhile the General Insurance Standards Council (GISC) has announced membership restrictions to prevent exploitation of the FSA’s agreement to offer due credit to GISC members. Firms who wish to be regulated by the GISC must now have applications submitted by 1 July 2004.
GISC chairman, Anthony Howland Jackson, said: “I am determined that the GISC retains its credibility as a regulator and maintains the value of the commitment member firms have made to the GISC’s standards of good practice.”
