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Marketwatch 29/06/2009
Swaps had a mixed week. While five-year swaps crept up slightly, shorter term swaps fell for the second week in a row as they settled back following their monster increases of the past few weeks.
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Trying to minimise dual pricing impact
We all know that dual pricing is one of the most contentious issues in today's broker marketplace.
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Economy needs a collegiate approach
Now that the full extent of the UK's banking failure seems to have been revealed, it's heart warming to see how this crisis has aligned the thinking of the chancellor and Bank of England governor.
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Smart technology will cut loan fraud
Another day and another mortgage fraud case hits the headlines. The latest focusses on a £10m fraud case caused by a single woman who obtained loans for six properties via two high street lenders using false identities.
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Expect more fines for arrears firms
The Financial Services Authority last week issued a stark warning to third party administrators and specialist lenders that arrears management standards were not good enough.
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Rise and fall of the State society
Now that we have a fistful of state banks it's worth recounting the fate of the State Building Society which fell from grace in 1959 due to a major scandal and ended up being subsumed into the Abbey National Building Society.
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It's time you made protection personal
The protection gap of £2.3trillion for life assurance and £190bn for income protection are figures we all hear bandied about across the industry. If nothing else, they highlight opportunities for advisers in the protection market.
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Equity release is a long-term business
Having thought about selling and moving to a cheaper property, many clients realise the extent of the emotion that is involved with their home and associated financial decisions.
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FSA lender probe is warning to all of us
The news that the Financial Services Authority is investigating four specialist lenders and servicers for their handling of mortgage arrears will be of little surprise to those who looked on aghast at some of the mortgages originated during the boom years.
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Clients going direct can be good news
It was great to read Russ Stein's letter in the June 22 issue of Mortgage Strategy in which he said he was happy for clients to go direct to lenders and that he earned far more through life commissions.
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Branching out is the key to growing
While we all want to believe that equity release can be a business saviour in the current climate, many are seeing through the smokescreen and realising this may not be so.
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Rent-back heading in right direction
The Financial Services Authority's recent announcement that the sale-and-rent-back market is to be regulated shows it has acknowledged the need to take control of this sector.