Chris Cummings, director of mortgages at AMI, said he had a number of brokers complaining that the FSA had requested to see evidence that their senior management systems and controls were in place within a specified timescale.
“Many brokers expected control inspections to begin after 31 October,” said Cummings.
Cummings said the FSA was keen to stamp its authority as the industry’s regulator right from the start.
“But what we still don’t know is how many brokers are simply using the direct authorisation application as an insurance policy,” he added.
The date for discounted applications expired on 31 March and the next landmark date by which brokers can be sure applications will be processed in time for regulation is 30 April.
The FSA is also set to issue the first tranche of ‘minded to authorise’ letters at the end of April, finally clearing up the uncertainty for brokers surrounding which firms have been awarded Principal status and can set up networks and which have not.
To date, only 4,229 application forms from mortgage and general insurance firms have been received by the FSA. Seventy per cent of the applications submitted so far are from mortgage firms and 80 per cent of those were submitted online.
