Speaking at The Mortgage Event, staged by Mortgage Solutions in London last week, Higginson
insisted that changes to charging structures, the categorization of advisers and enhanced qualification requirements arising from the RDR would be implemented under a Tory administration.
He said: “Anyone who thinks ‘do not worry, the Conservatives are coming, all this will go away’, is fooling themselves. I have read the Conservative policy document and that is not the case. There is no way David Cameron will stand up and say we do not need better qualified advisers.”
The RDR becomes policy in the first quarter of 2010 and initially only affects the IFA community,
with the new rules applying to the sales of pensions and investments. IFAs will have to recategorise themselves and pass a series of rigorous new exams by 2012. The way in which IFAs can receive certain commissions will also change in 2012.
The FSA has not confirmed that RDR legislation will be extended to the mortgage market, but
received wisdom is that some of the core principles are bound to be applied to mortgage brokers.
Higginson stressed that there was likely to be a revised qualification programme for mortgage
advisers. He added: “The FSA is already looking at a new paper. But do not panic – it will not be as difficult as the diploma-type qualification required for investment advisers.”
