AMI has long expressed concern that not all lenders will be able to produce compliant KFIs in time for the 31 October deadline and has sought reassurances from the FSA that intermediaries will not be held responsible for incorrect information sourced from lenders in good faith.
Chris Cummings, director of AMI, said he did not believe the regulator had previously been aware of the scale of the problem facing intermediaries. “We pointed out that intermediaries don’t have the answer to this problem and that it is up to the lenders to solve it,” he said.
The FSA was keen to reassure brokers. FSA spokesman Robin Gordon-Walker said: “Our rules state that a lender is responsible for the accuracy of a KFI which it produces and provides to an intermediary so the intermediary can give it to the consumer.”
Richard Angliss, managing director of the Homebuyer sourcing system, said: “It is a good thing that AMI are tackling this issue with the FSA. Homebuyer are issuing a guide to our customers on the FSA protocols for data collection so they can better understand what exactly is required for them.”
Matthew Bright, managing director of Optoma, commented: “While all brokers will be expected to exercise due diligence no one could expect them to sit down with a calculator and double check each lender KFI for themselves.”
