Research from www.tcfinfo.co.uk, taken just before the closing date for responses to the FSA’s latest proposals on Distribution and Disclosure, showed that 92.47% of intermediaries had not responded to the FSA or a trade body and 60.27% had no plans to do so.
The online research, involving 159 participants, is a real indication that intermediaries are not engaging in the regulatory debate. As a result www.tcfinfo.co.uk is embarking on a campaign to encourage intermediaries to register on the site and “Join the debate”.
Through the site’s regular updates and associated blog, www.tcfinfo.co.uk will run a series of online questionnaires on proposed regulatory changes and the results will be seen by the CML and AMI through their involvement in the TCF Lender Forum.
The TCF Lender Forum provides support for the www.tcfinfo.co.uk website and meets regularly to discuss the practical implications of regulatory changes with Lenders, major intermediary groups, CML, AMI and technology suppliers.
The results also showed that there is a real need for intermediaries to be kept updated on regulatory change in a clear and concise way. Only 10.69% of participants were ‘very confident’ in their knowledge of MMR. Therefore www.tcfinfo.co.uk intends to build on its strong track record of providing intermediaries with information in ‘plain English’ to provide summaries of the FSA’s Discussion and Consultation papers to bring them fully up to speed on the regulatory debate.
Commenting, Frank Eve, chairman of the TCF Lender Forum, said “After taking this research it became clear that smaller intermediaries needed better information on the regulatory changes and a way of ‘getting involved in the debate’. www.tcfinfo.co.uk will now provide information needed to understand regulatory changes and a way to communicate feedback via the TCF Lender Forum to the major Trade Associations and ultimately the FSA. I encourage all intermediaries to register on the site and ‘Get involved in the debate’!”
Michael Coogan director general of the CML, said: “The research shows that intermediaries are not participating in the regulatory debate, and that is unfortunate. Through the www.tcfinfo.co.uk website, there is a chance for their voice to be heard, and they should take it. The FSA has repeatedly called for the widest possible debate about the future of regulation, and it is important for intermediaries to make their views known.”
Robert Sinclair, director of AMI, said: “I have been encouraged that over 400 intermediaries have attended the FSA roadshows to debate the issues directly. However it is important that we press home our views so that the FSA is fully aware of the strength of views on aspects of their proposals. AMI strongly endorses this work by www.tcfinfo.co.uk to engage as many as possible in the debate and to work with us to provide a co-ordinated and consistent set of messages.”
