Mortgage Next is concerned that many brokers will not heed the FSA’s advice that it will take up to six months to process an application.
Stephen Atkins, who is compliance director of Mortgage Next, a director of the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries and a member of the FSA Small Business Practitioner Panel, believes that the FSA may well be deluged with late applications for direct authorisation, which will only be considered in a date order basis. This could mean that brokers who leave it to the last minute may not be authorised and will be unable to continue trading when M-Day arrives in October 2004.
The application process is quite complicated and brokers could end up in a dialogue with the FSA to explain how they will conduct their business. Atkins therefore recommends that brokers begin working on their business plans this summer so that they are in a position to be able to submit their applications as soon as possible. The FSA will accept applications from January 2004 onwards.
