Robert Sinclair, the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries director, said responsible brokers wanted the individual register now because it would help stamp out rogue traders.
He said: “One of the complexities is around the individual control functions in firms and when you slip from authorisation to registration. The thing that is causing problems is where Europe will fall on this and that will probably drive where the FSA ends up.
“Our problem in the industry is that we would like to get to registration at least because that would allow us to track where people get to a lot better.
“We’d almost like the double hit of cost, it’s not very often you’ll hear us say that but all the responsible firms in the market accept that it is such a big win.”
Nigel Stockton, financial services director at Countrywide, agreed.
“The delay in individual registration for me is a big miss. We should have gone early on it,” he said.
Stockton said implementation had to be across the board and include bank staff and telephony staff and not just intermediaries.
He added: “It annoys me intently when you have a DA broker who then hops under an AR badge to avoid forensic investigation. You have got to get to the individual. That’s the key.”
David Geale, mortgage sector manager at the FSA, said: “The point is not lost on us. We are well aware of how important the individual registration and approved persons is for the industry.
“We are continuing to prioritise our work as best we can and it is very much still on our agenda. It is something we’ll do as soon as we possibly can but I can’t give a timeframe.”
Geale said that firms should be doing enhanced due diligence themselves ahead of implementation of individual registration.
He added: “Due diligence does not need to be carried out by us, there is more the firms themselves can do to make sure they’re not taking on the wrong people.”
