Lesley Titcomb, director of small firms and contact centre at the Financial Services Authority, said the yesterday at a Council of Mortgage Lenders conference that the FSA plans to include all mortgage advisers on the register of approved persons, as proposed as part of its Mortgage Market Review.
In its response to the MMR, the CML said bank-based mortgage advisers should be exempt from the register because they are already subject to sufficient controls within lenders’ compliance procedures.
But Titcomb said: “We have to ask what the point of that half-hearted approach would be?
"If we want to have proper oversight of individuals in the industry, so that we can combat fraud, so that we can take action against individual advisers and so that we can raise standards, then we must have oversight of the whole industry and those who work in it, and not just part of it.”
In response to the speech, Robert Sinclair, AMI director said: “The confirmation that the approved persons regime will be applied to the whole industry is a welcome affirmation of the desire to provide a consistent regime. Also the need to protect vulnerable consumers has the full support of AMI.
“To this end, the requirement to look at income in some detail will be an enhancement.
"Responsible brokers already do this effectively. However, we will be looking carefully at the wording as to what is required. Will brokers be required to obtain income details, check it, review its plausibility or verify its accuracy? These are very different tasks and clarity on whether these will be broker or lender responsibilities will be welcome.
“We strongly support the statement on self-certification and the encouragement for lenders to think flexibly.”
AMI will respond formally to the consultations when they are published.
