Mortgage Introducer has been bombarded with responses from leading industry figures to the article in last week’s issue, ‘Non-compliant Financial Promotions still ‘widespread’’. The recurring theme was increasing frustration at the lack of FSA action and the huge differences in compliance standards still being allowed.
Tony Jones, managing director of Pink Home Loans, said: “This is a big issue that is showing no signs of going away. Costs involved to get these promotions compliant are large; outsourcing to a specialist could see costs of up to £800 for a direct mail brochure.”
“There are numerous conditions to look at but I believe it is feasible for an industry standard in this area via a number of templates by niche areas for different genres of advertising,” he added.
Bill Warren, director of The Complete Network, said: “It’s not easy to take when firms put in a huge amount of time and money following FSA rules and then are placed next to a non-compliant advert. An industry standard is a good idea.”
Nick Battersby, compliance director at the Regulatory Alliance of Mortgage Packagers (RAMP), said: “RAMP would fully support the idea of an industry standard. We recently did a survey and found that around half of adverts were still non-compliant. Action needs to be taken.”
Ben Stafford, head of policy at the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI), said: “This is an area that we are currently looking at and working hard on. FSA rules are in place to follow so there are no excuses for non-compliant Financial Promotions. AMI will be producing extra guidance for our members which will be available shortly.”
David Whitely, spokesperson at the FSA, said: “Rules and guidance are in place for firms to follow which provide freedom to work within these guidelines. The FSA don’t want to get too prescriptive in this area as we believe that it may stifle innovation.”
