Richard Deacon, sales and


marketing director, Masthaven


Having carefully dissected the report, Masthaven was


pretty happy with the findings and the overall press that bridging finance received. To the initiated there were no real surprises in there and so long as your firm is a responsible lender doing things as they should be done then you certainly have nothing to worry about. The major inference that we read between the lines was that the FSA was seemingly looking to steer everyone to use FSA regulated lenders even if the product they were looking to use for their client was non-regulated. For Masthaven this was of course fantastic news as we have been FSA regulated for just over a year now. In reality though the whole paper has no massive bearing on today’s bridging market and there are certainly no experts on bridging within the FSA of that there can be no doubt. What it did show though is the FSA is looking into bridging finance which can only be a good thing for the industry and everyone at Masthaven is 100% behind them.


Laurence Goodman, chief executive, Bridgebank Capital


There were few but nevertheless significant


matters raised by the Mortgage Market Review which affect the short-term market. All of these are still under debate with the


www.mortgageintroducer.com


FSA, through the Association of Short Term Lenders, on behalf of its members. The most significant point raised concerned the proposed capital adequacy limits which may cause problems for certain lenders given their funding structures.


Eddie Goldsmith, founding partner of Goldsmith Williams


There’s been much consensus in the reaction to the Mortgage


Market Review with most commentators acknowledging a reasonable balance has been struck between allowing lenders flexibility when conducting affordability assessments whilst continuing a sensible level of consumer protection. Consumer protection is the key consideration for legal advisers when acting for clients in all property transactions whether bridging or any other - regulatory frameworks protect clients. I would derive comfort from the role played by the Financial Services Authority in regulating the industry as it would bring it into line with other sectors. As part of our duty of care we need to be confident the client fully understands the implications of the mortgage they are entering into - that is more likely under FSA regulation. It’s not just lender regulation that’s important. As a lawyer there’s further reassurance when the mortgage introducer in the transaction is FSA regulated too. FSA regulated introducers work within those guidelines, meet their obligation to treat customers fairly and can be


relied upon to conduct identity checks for example. That has to be a good thing for both lawyer and client. In a world where we all have to remain vigilant to the threat of mortgage fraud and where lawyers, lenders and mortgage introducers play a part in this there’s a clear advantage in all being regulated. Short-term finance is a relatively small market and so the impact of any fraud here could be substantial – regulation is of benefit in managing that risk.


Shoaib Bux, director, Mayfair Bridging


It is a good thing as there are many bridging


lenders out there with unethical practices. Unfortunately this minority can spoil it for the rest of us who have tried hard to bring professionalism to the industry. Regulation can only be a good thing but at the same time a balanced view needs to be adopted by the FSA. They need to recognise that bridging is a premium product suited to a certain demographic of borrowers and due to its short-term nature should be exempt from the rigorous checks imposed on other traditional mortgage lenders.


BRIDGING INTRODUCER MARCH 2012 37 


The majority of our borrowers are experienced property investors/traders and developers, therefore the borrower type is considerably different and more astute compared to the first-time buyer. The very nature of bridging finance is speed which borrowers want. Over-regulation could impact the speed element considerably.


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