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Natalie Thomas
60 seconds with...Colin Snowdon
Colin Snowdon
Chief executive
Aldermore mortgages
What aspects of the Mortgage Market Review do you agree with?
The proposal to individually authorise brokers was an unpopular concept when it was first discussed, but I think it will be good. It will push the broker community to where it needs to be in terms of quality and no good broker should be afraid of it.
What do you disagree with in the MMR?
When you look at the proposals as a whole, the implication is that we are going to have a permanently smaller mortgage market. I hope the authorities have thought about the implications of the MMR and the changes are not happening accidentally.
If you were in charge at the Financial Services Authority for a day what would you do?
I would clarify what the final strategic outcome of MMR will be in terms of the housing and mortgage markets overall, rather than looking at every individual section. I would talk to the Bank of England and the Treasury about the likely outcome and whether it is one society wants. This way the industry could go forward with an open and honest appreciation of what the MMR hopes to achieve.
What will the future be for non-deposit-taking firms?
A healthy market of around £200bn to £250bn of gross lending is not going to return without the revival of the wholesale funding and securitisation markets. The non-banks have been unfairly blamed in some quarters for problems that were not their making.
Who is the best person you have worked with in the industry and why?
Roy Littler has been one of the most influential men I have ever worked with. He was my boss when we were setting up The Mortgage Business in 1989 and was hugely influential in terms of my development and the example he set. He was a visionary leader who taught me the importance of having a strategy and good people.
If you weren’t in financial services what would you be doing?
I would be writing about history, which I studied at university. I’m a frustrated historian with particular interest in military history and imperial Russia.
Do you have any secret talents?
I represented the UK at ballroom dancing in 1965 in Berlin. I qualified for the British team, which was up against Germany.
Interview by Natalie thomas
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