CFI: Opinion
Setting high standards in short term finance by
George Patellis, CEO, Tiuta
Headlines incorporating the three letters F, S and a in vari- ous guises are hardly uncom- mon, especially over the past few years. Within the trade press especially it seems that a week seldom goes by with- out reports of the regulator issuing enforcement action be it in the form of fines or the withdrawal of permissions. one recent case saw a sole
trader banned for breaching a settlement agreement with the FSa and providing false and misleading information to the FSa. the ban followed an FSa investigation into the sys- tems and controls at the indi- vidual’s firm, and the suitabil- ity of the advice it provided to customers. this is certainly not a one-
off case and there have been further warnings recently that the watchdog is to step up
FSa, said that small firms will be supervised through road- shows, visits, workshops and more intensive interventions. He added that the recent ban- ning of 80 brokers for fraud with total fines of more than £1m represents one such in- tervention. the speech also stated that large firms face more mystery shopping exer- cises and consumer research by the FSa. it’s become increasingly
clear that operating within the regulated world is not always an easy one and the industry must continue engaging with the FSa in a proactive man- ner in order to stay within these regulatory boundaries. of course there are bound- aries to which the regulator must also adhere to when ensuring the well being of consumers and this doesn’t mean forcing good, profes- sional firms from the financial services arena by unnecessary regulation or making fees too high for them to survive. the regulator is here for
a purpose and on the whole does a pretty good job. as a
“ Many intermediaries are hoping this renewed activity and confidence in the housing market will also help to kick-start the remortgage market”
its supervision of small busi- nesses with more intensive action to be taken against in- dividual firms. in a speech at the city and Financial inten- sive Supervision conference in may, Jon Pain, managing director of supervision at the
provider, intermediary, dis- tributor or any other party operating within a regulated environment it also remains our duty to look after our cus- tomers. the housing market has proved to be fairly stable
44 mortgage introducer JULY 2010
“ The focus on higher proc fees and pure headline rates are thankfully a thing of the past”
thus far in 2010 with slow but steady growth in house prices and transactions across the board. it has also received a boost in recent times as the tories have kept their pre-election promise and scrapped Home information Packs (HiPs). indeed, the number of
new properties coming onto the market has jumped by 34% following the govern- ment’s decision to suspend HiPs, a 68% increase on the same week last year, accord- ing to countrywide. this increase has seen the num- ber of new properties reach levels not seen since Septem- ber 2007 – the same month that HiPs were extended to cover three bedroom prop- erties. the latest figures also reveal that sales jumped 8% on the previous week - the highest weekly volume since February 2010. many intermediaries are
hoping this renewed activity and confidence in the hous- ing market will also help to kick-start the remortgage market. this is an area that has suffered heavily in re- cent times but whilst a few more intermediary deals are creeping back into the market
brokers need to be aware that there still remains a number of options available including utilising short-term finance. as an instant form of remortgaging there are vari- ous ways that a bridging loan can help when normal pur- chasing can fail to deliver real value. in such cases, for example where a developer or builder is prepared to sell multiple properties at a dis- count in exchange for fast completion, bridging finance becomes a hugely important facilitator and profit generator for this important element of the housing market. another scenario to consid-
er when looking at bridging finance is the potential ben- efits offered by intermediaries to landlords - especially those growing numbers buying property at auctions - and the dual income streams involved which can pay dividends at a time when mainstream mort- gage volumes are declining. it is this strength of rela- tionships and the element of trust behind them that are key factors in the modern mort- gage market. there is an ever growing flight to quality by intermediaries to those pro- viders, both in the specialist and mainstream market, with whom they have a history with and can trust. the focus on higher proc
fees and pure headline rates are thankfully a thing of the past and it’s important that we, as an industry, continue to work hard in providing the choice and service re- quired on a consistent level to ensure these relationships remain in place now and for the future.
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 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52