FSA to extend approved persons regime to all advisers
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Lesley Titcomb, director of small firms and contact centre at the Financial Services Authority says it will extend its approved persons regime to the whole adviser market as part of its Mortgage Market Review.
Speaking at the Council of Mortgage Lenders conference yesterday, she says while a good proportion of people have broadly supported its proposal to extend the approved persons regime to individuals in the frontline of providing advice or arranging mortgages, some still believe that it should only apply changes to intermediaries.
But she says: “We have to ask what the point of that half-hearted approach would be? If we want to have proper oversight of individuals in the industry, so that we can combat fraud, so that we can take action against individual advisers and so that we can raise standards, then we must have oversight of the whole industry and those who work in it, and not just part of it.”
She says that means that whatever it introduces for intermediaries, it must introduce for those people working for lenders who deal with customers as well.
She adds: “It would, after all, be naïve to think that fraud can only ever be an intermediary problem.”
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Readers' comments (5)
Anonymous | 18 Jun 2010 2:45 pm
This is yet another FSA 'sledgehammer to crack a nut' decision.
It will impose additional workload and costs on firms (and the FSA) at a time when we need to streamline processes so that the industry focuses on the key compliance issues.
If the FSA want to know where advisers are, they could compile a simple list and display it on the FSA Register. Frims that employ advisers would be required to keep the list updated without the need for the whole approved persons regime. If advisers of firms fail to comply, they should suffer a short, sharp penalty (say £5,000 fine for the first offence) - if they repeat it, they should receive an ARROW visit.
If the unlikely event that this simple approach does not work, then a full approved persons regime could be implemented later.
But we know the FSA never choose the simple straightforward approach when they can cause maximum cost and interference!
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Calvin Oram | 18 Jun 2010 3:00 pm
For once, I can say, I agree with Lesley!
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Sid Siddiqui | 18 Jun 2010 3:04 pm
It took FSA three years to understand this scheme. We in ISIS Mortgages have been calling for this to happen for the last three years or so.
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Anonymous | 18 Jun 2010 4:56 pm
weedle out the rogues can only be a good thing........well weedling back out the ones the FSA should never have licenced first of all!!!!!!!!!!!
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Danny Lovey | 18 Jun 2010 5:02 pm
Stick to your guns on this one Lesley. Anyone who is in contact with the public either working as non advised or whatever as well as all the intermediary market should be approved and accountable.
The next thing is for non advised sales in the bank banches to be fully understood as being that, and not as it is currently where the public get 'confused'. The first step is to ensure the title 'mortgage adviser' is not called an adviser when they do not give advice! Obvious, but it confuses the public. Mortgage salesperson would be a more appropiate and understandable title rather than anything suggesting a client will get 'advice' when the won't!
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