The regulator came to the conclusion after finding her not fit and proper to work in the regulated financial services industry.
Mrs Spring was managing director of Earlybird Finance Ltd (Earlybird) and responsible for its day-to-day business. She was the sole mortgage adviser at the firm and has accepted responsibility for the failings. The FSA considered that Mrs Spring was not competent or capable of ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements and of preventing the firm from being used to facilitate financial crime. The withdrawal of Mrs Spring's individual approval meant that the firm had no effective management of its regulated activities, and the firm was therefore cancelled for failing to meet the FSA's minimum standards to carry out regulated business.
The FSA took this action against Mrs Spring because a significant proportion of mortgage applications submitted by her firm contained false or questionable information. The FSA's investigation found that she had not made sure that information provided by customers was accurate. She also received business from introducers, but didn't make sure that those introducers were competent or that they provided complete and accurate information. In particular she failed to identify or resolve anomalies in information about customers provided either by the customers or through the introducers. Mrs Spring also failed to understand her role, believing that it was the sole responsibility of a lender, and not of a mortgage broker, to take steps to help prevent the submission of potentially fraudulent mortgage applications.
Jonathan Phelan, head of retail enforcement at the FSA, said: "Mortgage brokers must take adequate steps to prevent the submission of mortgage applications that contain false or misleading information. Brokers cannot pass the sole responsibility for identifying potentially fraudulent mortgage applications on to lenders. It is essential that firms have robust systems and controls in place to monitor their business effectively and a firm's management is accountable for the implementation and maintenance of these systems. Mrs Spring was not fit and proper in terms of competence and capability and we have taken this action to stop her working in the regulated financial services industry mainly in support of the FSA's financial crime and market confidence objectives."
