Thomas Reeh, chief executive officer at black&white.co.uk, voiced his concerns regarding how some of the smaller players will be fairly represented when the FSA comes to visit firms; and questioned the future of various trade bodies
He claimed the mortgage broking industry landscape has become ‘very hazy’ due to the raft of professional bodies, especially given the magnitude of FSA influence.
Reeh said: “With the advent of the FSA the industry balance has changed forever and now we have hefty fees to pay to the FSA. All brokers will need to be resold the benefits of being a member of the various industry trade bodies and indeed on who will be there to help them when it’s needed.”
He added: “The role of the Financial Industry Standards Association (FISA) is questionable as I’m not sure what it does differently to the FSA because it doesn’t limit its activity to second charge lending.
“Chris Cummings has done a sterling job at the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI) in promoting the cause of the industry as a whole but how far can it go? What is the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) brief post-regulation? I don’t know.
“Roles need to be clarified; we are a big business with a big in-house compliance team but I fear for where the sole-traders and small firms will turn.”
Andy Frankish, managing director at Mortgage Talk, said: “I understand this issue rearing its head; there do seem to be a cluster of bodies out there, some of which I must confess I’ve hardly heard of and aren’t sure what they do.
“My experiences with AMI are that it has been proactive and highly successful in looking after its members. Lots of work goes unseen in such organisations; members need to question such bodies if they aren’t happy.”
