As of 1 October it had received 6,998 registrations from the mortgage sector to obtain an application pack and 3,995 applications for authorisation.
‘Scope of permission’ notices (SPN) have been sent to 3,762 mortgage firms. This notice sets out the range of activities the firm will be authorised to conduct and the date from which this permission starts.
Additionally there have been 4,227 applications received for a ‘variation of permission’ (VOP) from FSA-supervised firms wishing to conduct mortgage or general insurance business, 2,917 for mortgage and 1,310 for general insurance only. 3,657 SPNs have been sent, as of October 1; 2641 in respect of mortgages and 1,016 in respect of general insurance.
SPNs have been issued to 78 new firms and to 32 existing firms wishing to operate a network with a mortgage (or mixed business) permission. In addition ‘minded to authorise’ (MTA) letters have been issued to 78 new firms wishing to operate a network for general insurance business only.
Sarah Wilson, director of the FSA High Street Division, said: “There are still firms who have left a decision on direct authorisation or their chosen network even to this late stage. We will do our best to deal with late notifications but we cannot compromise the integrity of our scrutiny or of our decision-making process.”
Mark Mountney, managing director of Premier Mortgage Management, said: “The figures could imply that the critical mass for many of the networks simply cannot be met and, as a consequence, there has to be a contraction of their number either by withdrawals or some degree of merger/acquisition.
‘The next month or so will have a few surprises in store.”
