Warren slams CML stance on APs
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Compliance expert Bill Warren has hit out at the Council of Mortgage Lenders, claiming its calls for lenders to be excluded from increased FSA regulation are “appalling.”
Last week the CML said lenders’ staff should not be included in the scope of the FSA’s proposed approved persons’ regime and warned it would be costly and could delay the housing market recovery.
Warren says: “I think it is appalling that lenders think their advisers should be excluded from a regime designed to increase the quality of the service provided to clients.
“I am disappointed that the CML went with this line. After all, intermediaries are not getting loads of complaints - the banks are.”
Association of Mortgage Intermediaries director Robert Sinclair also disagrees with the CML’s stance.
He says: “I would prefer a single register so consumers can check that and know that whatever the type of firm, the individual is registered. The FSA is keen we root out mortgage fraud and hold individuals to account, so it would be strange if the register only covers one part of the industry.”
The CML says it supports appropriate action to prevent rogue individuals from entering the mortgage market but it adds that justification for the FSA proposals to impose the approved persons’ regime on the lending sector as well as the intermediary sector “is less clear”.
In its latest newsletter, the CML says: “We argue that there are distinct differences between lender and intermediary firms.
“We are not convinced, however, that the FSA has recognised them - or the unintended consequences of the uniform introduction of new regulatory requirements for lenders and intermediaries.”
It says the regulator already has better regulatory tools to supervise lenders and that there is not a “significant lack of training or competence” in the lending sector.
The CML says it is also concerned that the regime will be costly and could derail the housing market recovery. It says: “The risk is that the FSA’s proposals will distort the market.”
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