In a frank admission that the company had bitten off more than it could chew Jay Islam, founder and marketing director, said the firm could only cope with the compliance needs of the 12 ARs it had currently recruited.
Islam claimed that Mortgage Finders direct to consumer operation, which currently has 88 advisers, was still expanding and actively recruiting for candidates who were prepared to work on a commission-only basis.
“We aim to re-launch the network proposition in February, when we have got the company back on track and can pick up ARs who are disaffected with their networks,” he said.
Mortgage Finders will not be allowing any of the ARs who have signed up with its network to exit following the current turn of events. Islam claimed that all the network’s ARs were content to stay put. However he failed to produce any names or contact details of these ARs for Mortgage Introducer to verify this. Commenting on the situation Bill Warren, network director of the Complete Network, said: “It has long been clear that some networks did not have the infrastructure to provide the necessary systems and controls to ensure compliance with FSA regulation.”
Tony Jones, managing director of Pink, agreed. “A lot of firms who have promised a lot for very little have got their ‘Minded to Approve’ (MTA) letters and now when it comes to the crunch they can’t deliver,” he said.
