cFi: nAcFB

All change

Where does a shared administration leave pre-election promises and how will the NACFB engage with the new regime

by

Adam Tyler,

chief executive NACFB

Since the end of 2007, the NACFB

has had to change its attitude towards lobbying. There had been a perception that the best way to stay out of regulation was to be low key. The expression of not sticking our heads over the parapet was adopted as policy; in that way, it was hoped, the FSA might not notice us.

But things change. It became

apparent that regulation and market changes were sweeping all before them and it was vital to be part of the dialogue, or risk getting washed away. So from the beginning of 2008, we stepped up our work across the whole political spectrum; whether it was talking to Vince Cable on how the world would look post recession, or working closely with the Tories on how NACFB members were involved in funding SMEs across the UK. Then of course we played a not insignificant role in pointing out to Peter Mandelson’s office the shortcomings in funding to business that was occurring through 2008 and 2009. We wanted to lead from the front: where parts of the Mortgage Market Review touched our industry we joined the debate and we also engaged heavily with the FSA over the proposed buy-to-let regulation. But one of our long standing engagements was to host - and our members to attend - many small business briefings with various conservatives MPs, whom at the time we assumed would form the next

42 mortgAge introducer JUNE 2010

Government. The aim was to prepare the ground; so that later we would be able to say: “We were there whilst you were in opposition, and now you’re in power, we want to maintain a voice for our industry”. At the time this proved to be a good strategy - given both the opinion polls, and our members’ customers’ perception of those in power at that time. The curve ball of the double-headed Government we eventually got was something that, at the time, we couldn’t foresee.

Funding

Fortunately, funding for small businesses has a place high up on the agenda of both of the political parties which make the coalition. And the initial signs for this joined-up Government are good. The MPC has held the Bank of England base rate at 0.5% again this month and UK banks are continuing to repair their balance sheets. I am due to report this month to the Bank of England on the views from the broker funding sector and how our members are seeing the market at close quarters.

So how do we think the new coalition

government will work for our sector? Pre-election, the Conservative Party promised that within weeks of being elected they would launch the most radical overhaul for a generation of the way that banks are regulated and policed, in order to support the economy and protect customers. So how would this ‘radical overhaul’ work? At the heart of the original Conservative reforms was the abolition of the tripartite system; the Liberal Democrats, however, planned to leave the current structure pretty much intact and in place. How this will now pan out in the

coalition between the two is less clear. So far, what has become apparent is that there has been no call for the abolition of the tripartite system. The Liberals did support the creation of a Council of Financial Stability, however, that involved all parties including the Governor of the Bank of England and the Chairman of the FSA. Of course, close to our own constitution and the fight against advance fee fraud, is their plan for an Economic Crime Agency that is to consolidate the tackling of serious economic and white collar crime.

diFFiculties

As an Association we are into our third year of difficulty for our members and their customers. Even now, when we have seen some increase in the number of cases being agreed by credit departments, there are still inherent difficulties in bringing these to a successful completion because the staff resources in credit or security departments within some of the lenders have been cut back during long periods of inactivity. I receive regular reports of long delays and emergency procedures as customers scramble to complete their purchase or refinancing. Whatever the new Government does in the short term, with recovery still fragile, we need to avoid any spectre of a double dip recession. There is some talk that a few markets, mainly the south east, may have overheated and that commercial values have left the rest of the country far behind during early 2010. There is a disparity with yields in some sectors, whilst other sectors and geographical locations are still effectively “off the radar” completely for most lenders. Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48