Karen Monaghan, managing director at the Kingsland Consultancy Ltd, said: “Awareness varies immensely. There are firms out there who aren’t even aware of the reporting while even those who are informed don’t seem to grasp the full extent of the procedures. Information gathering is fairly straightforward for mortgage brokers but insurance issues are a little more complicated.”
Richard Griffiths, managing director at Network Data, said: “Input from brokers over the past few weeks has been one of horror at the growing realisation of their responsibilities as a directly authorised (DA) firm. Not surprisingly we are seeing increased enquiries from the smaller broker firms who are looking for the comfort of a network.”
Steve Brockman, director at A2B Mtg Co Ltd, said: “We have downloaded the regulatory reporting pack from the FSA website and we have made sure that we have booked onto one of the FSA workshops. The pack is a great help but there are still aspects to clarify, namely costs involved in the reporting process hence going to the £40 per head workshop. Costs are a major issue for DA firms and will be taken into account as to whether we continue as DA in the future.”
Ben Stafford, policy officer at the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI), said: “Some of our member firms have been working on a pilot scheme with the FSA, so this should have identified any gremlins. It is imperative that firms are ready in collecting data and that the core processes of the FSA are also ready. AMI’s top tip to firms is to print off the pack and the templates from the FSA website including the RMAR and complaints return.”
Bill Warren, director of The Complete Network, said: ‘I suspect that there are many firms that aren’t ready but I’m sure that there are a multitude of compliance people studying and sorting out the necessary sources of data involved in the reporting. Readiness depends on the quality of firm’s records since regulation.”
Mark Fenton, director at Fenton Simpson Financial Services, said: “This is something that as a DA broker we have to deal with; we have to abide by the FSA rules. We do have the data in place it is just a matter of collating it but that involves spending extra time that we could spend writing business.”
Peter Heigho, sales director at Client Data Systems (CDS), said: “From what I have experienced lately the honest answer has to be no, it seems that it is only just dawning on brokers that the clock is ticking. It seems like it will be ‘Mortgage Day’ revisited with firms running around at the last minute to get their houses in order.”
Andy Frankish, managing director of Mortgage Talk, said: “Some firms are almost certainly not ready for regulatory reporting and will be in for a bit of a shock when it comes to information gathering. There is a lot of work to be done in a short space of time. It will be difficult for networks with lots of firms who may each have different structures. It takes long enough working on one platform, so collating data from a range of different ones will prove interesting.”
