The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has issued a new guide to help intermediaries get to grips with the impending regulation.
The publication, Mortgage and General Insurance Regulation: A Guide for Firms, explains the consultation process, the proposed timetable for the impending regulation and covers a series of frequently asked questions.
Sarah Wilson, director of the FSA’s new High Street Firms division, said: ‘Regulation of the mortgage and general insurance sectors will impact on a range of firms and businesses. We are committed to creating proportionate regimes sensitive to the products and consumers in these markets. This guide is an important first step in communicating with firms that could be affected, and is designed to provide information that will help them engage in the full consultation process when it starts.’
Rob Clifford, managing director of Mortgageforce, said that as 70% of mortgage advisers had not experienced authorisation by the FSA, the guide would help with the transition.
‘However, the guide will be old news for many firms. It hasn’t revealed anything new, but since the majority of advisers have not experienced regulation it conveys the right message ‘ they will either be compliant, or in breach,’ he said.
But Ian Curtis, sales manager at Professional Mortgage Services, said the guide will be helpful to those advisers not used to operating in a regulated environment.
He said: ‘It will help intermediaries as a lot of brokers do not have a clue and are unsure of what will happen. A guide with a few pointers will be useful.’
High Street Firms has been set up to deliver the FSA’s new regulatory remit for the mortgage and general insurance industries.
John Tiner, managing director of the FSA, said: ‘An introduction to mortgage and general insurance regulation involves the creation of two new regulatory regimes and the new division will have a pivotal role in delivering this.’
The new division will address three specific areas: policies for mortgage regulation and insurance sectors, authorisation of retail market firms, and supervising retail market advisory groups.
For a copy of the guide call 0845 608 2372
