John Mawdsley, director of Chester-based The Mortgage Partnership, said he has received an e-mail from the FSA informing him that it will be making regional visits in his area the week commencing 11 July. The e-mail has gone out to all mortgage firms in the CH postcode area.
Mawdsley said it suggests the FSA will be making a round trip of firms, dealing with them in postcode areas rather than pinpointing individual ones.
He said: “The fact the e-mail has been sent to everyone in the CH postcode suggests that this is the strategy the FSA is taking. The regulator has not specified why it is visiting us but it seems it is only targeting the mortgage firms. It will be visiting for a week but we’re not worried. All our compliance is in place so there should be no problems.”
Robin Gordon Walker, spokesman at the FSA, said: “Our supervision of firms is now in running mode. Firms no longer have individual supervisors visiting them.
“We make thematic visits but it is also based on region. But of course we will visit individual firms if we think there is a problem there.”
Mike Fitzgerald, sales director at Brentchase Financial Services, commented: “I think brokers will be worried about these visits as there’s no specific reasons given for them. But I would expect the point behind them is to instruct and aid firms on specific issues rather than to come down on them.”
