Mortgage News
AMI urges FSA: no need for new regulation
The Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI) has urged the FSA to exercise caution while considering the introduction of new mortgage regulation, questioning whether previous regulatory actions had had the required effect over the last five years.
AMI’s latest report, The UK Mortgage Market – a comparative study reflecting US and European influences, argues that developments in the UK are the result of a wide range of other factors, including macro-economic policy that produced similar trends in other countries with vastly different regulatory regimes.
The report was drafted by Dr Oonagh McDonald CBE, former MP, Treasury spokesperson and FSA director.
AMI’s paper is intended to inform the FSA’s consultation into mortgage market regulation, which starts in October, first announced by the regulator in May.
Robert Sinclair, director of AMI, said it was vital that the FSA did not introduce ‘unnecessary regulation’ which was unlikely to have the desired effect.
He explained: “If the FSA and the Government wish to exert greater control over house prices, product regulation is not the answer.”
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The trade body called for further empirical research by FSA in arrears and possessions and a more in-depth study into mortgage equity withdrawal.