The 25 May holds a special place in my heart. On that date in 1967, Glasgow Celtic became the first British football club to conquer Europe and win the illustrious European Cup.
Then a good number of years later, I was married on the 25 May in glorious sunshine to my lovely wife Helen.
So, as I mentioned, it is a special date for me, and I hope it continues to be.
What am I going on about? Well, on 25 May this year, the Corporation of Finance Brokers (CFB) held an Extraordinary General Meeting and voted unanimously in favour of setting up a new trade body – The Association of Finance Brokers. (AFB)
Massive changes
So will 25 May continue to hold a special place in my heart? I cannot really answer that but I do hope that, with all the publicity and news coverage that is being given to our new trade body, it will do. As everyone who is involved in the secured loan market knows, our sector of the industry is going through massive changes just now in terms of market growth and profile and a strong trade body is exactly what it needs. We are under continuous press coverage due to single premium payment protection insurance (PPI) and the question mark over whether our loan products should be regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) is one of the most high profile discussion topics currently surrounding the industry.
I have my own opinion on both these matters, but this is not the time to voice it. But I do want to give an opinion on the new trade body and what route we should go down with this. From anyone who knows me or has read any of my previous articles in the trade press, can see that having been involved in secured loans for over 23 years I am really passionate about this industry, and feel at this stage we have a chance for our trade body to stand up and fight our corner at a time when there are important issues to be faced. Obviously to do this it is important that secured loan brokers join the AFB and I can assure you that our company has already made the enquiry to join (even although it took three phone calls to speak to someone).
Wiping the slate clean
The CFB, the predecessor to the AFB, was a long-established trade body set up in the 1980s to look after the fledgling industry of secured loans. As any former member who spoke honestly would tell you, it organised good golf days and weekends for the annual conference.
Unfortunately as a trade body, concieved to help the industry, it did not work. It is an opportunity now to wipe the slate clean and in today’s industry climate we must grab this chance to make the AFB a high-profile body by working together to help our cause in the various issues that are going to affect our sector of the industry.
In my opinion, and I stress that this is just my opinion, I feel the secured lending industry should not have become part of the Association of Independent Financial Advisers (AIFA) and should have stood on its own two feet. Since ‘Mortgage-Day’, there have been more advisers getting involved in secured loans, using the products as an alternative to remortgaging.
During this time, I have noticed a great deal of objections and lack of knowledge of the secured loans market and also that they still view it with the stigma it had many years ago. I know some people will immediately think that, by becoming part of AIFA, it will be a good chance to educate members about secured loans. My argument would be that due to AIFA’s size, it may be that our voice will be lost within the membership. The opinions of the AIFA members will not necessarily change because the AFB has become part of it.
Another thing that concerns me is by becoming part of this body, everyone is assuming secured loans are becoming regulated by the FSA. As far as I know the FSA has not stated it will take secured loans under its regulation and that this is one of the main topics that a trade body for secured loans should be discussing in detail.
I don’t know if the AFB is going down the right road but I will certainly become part of it to have my voice heard. I hope every other broker in the market does the same, and that we can all speak up for a sector that requires a good deal more self proclaiming.
Let’s hope I can add another thing to my list of good things that happened to me on 25 May.
