The Society of Mortgage Professionals will be a centre of technical excellence and good practice, linking the CII’s existing mortgage related examinations and the online competency tool mortgage ASSESS, with additional technical support through seminars, workshops and guidance notes.
As a result, practitioners in the mortgage market at all levels will have access to a programme of continuing professional development, standards of conduct that reflect good practice, online tools to achieve and demonstrate competence and events around the UK delivering training and learning support.
The CII have recruited Richard Fox, currently compliance director at MCCB, to become the Society’s chief executive (with effect from November 1) and established an Advisory Board comprising leading market figures to ensure the Society fully reflects the needs of the mortgage industry.
The Society will also provide recognition of mortgage professionals through a set of designations, support individuals at all stages of their professional development, and provide a wide range of membership benefits including a quarterly newsletter, seminars, dedicated website and access to CII membership services including the online Information Services facility. The Society will mirror the highly successful membership model developed by SOFA. The CII will be seeking feedback from mortgage advisers, at a series of seminars in October, to help determine the exact nature of the services to be provided.
CII director general Dr Sandy Scott said, “Advisers have already clearly shown their desire to adopt the highest levels of professionalism through their positive response to meet the new regulatory requirements for formal qualifications. The Society of Mortgage Professionals will enable them to build on, and demonstrate, their commitment to the benefit of the consumer and to the reputation of the industry.”
The Society of Mortgage Professionals is central to the CII’s strategy to make itself market facing. This strategy has already seen the recent launch of the Faculty of Claims and London Market Faculty, with the Faculty of Insurance Broking to be launched on October 1.
