You can take another look at this week’s news and we’ll round up the most thought-provoking or unmissable comments posted after stories or letters sent straight through to the editor.
Remember, we will be picking the best reader’s comment each week. Scroll down to the bottom to find out if your comment was our favourite from last week.
Barclays to settle all PPI claims
Mortgage Solutions | 13 Jun 2011 | 10:52
Kay McLellan
All well and good that Barclays is giving in and paying up, but they did try very hard not to with all the mis-selling the banks do. Where is the justice? No fines, no licenses withdrawn. If this was an IFA firm I’m sure they would not be in business today.
Kevin
13 Jun 2011 | 12:13
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FSA: Non-advised sales ban still possible; Mortgage exam changes ahead
Mortgage Solutions | 14 Jun 2011 | 13:00
Vicky Hartley
This is just the same as RDR. I have taken a number of exams over the past 20 years and they are not worth a light according to the FSA. I have also taken various mortgage exams including equity release and home reversion. Are these going to be treated the same? The FSA seems to have a fetish over exams as though they are the be all and end all.
Terry
14 Jun 2011 | 13:43
Quite right Terry. Examinations are a revenue raising exercise. I learnt virtually nothing when I did my CeMAP.
CeMAP doesn’t tell you that Halifax do vendor deposits, you learn that by doing the job. It doesn’t teach you that two life assurances are better than joint or which life companies have menu systems. Further exams would not make me a better adviser.
Des Platt
14 Jun 2011 | 13:59
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Convicted £50m fraudster to appeal “excessive sentence”
Mortgage Solutions | 15 Jun 2011 | 11:25
Kay McLellan
Both of these crooks should have thought about their actions beforehand. Swindling millions off the banks and savers is an abhorrent crime. They made their own beds and now they have to sleep in them. Abusing their position to defraud lenders out of millions for personal gain is a crime that should be severely punished. I hope their appeals fail.
A broker
15 Jun 2011 | 14:25
Whilst I despair of our legal system, there are murderers and rapists who have had lesser punishments. Mortgage fraud is still despicable so I hope the appeal fails.
Dave Walton
15 Jun 2011 | 11:53
I think him and his lawyer have got a cheek. So what if he had character witnesses and pleaded guilty? He got greedy, knew how the system worked and benefitted from the fraud. I would suspect that the reason it took the SFO so long is that his accomplices had created a paper trail to hide the theft. We should have no lenience at all, he abused his professional position.
John
15 Jun 2011 | 11:51
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Survey ignorance is ‘a danger to lenders’
Mortgage Solutions | 16 Jun 2011 | 11:46
Kay McLellan
I have just had a chartered surveyor visit a property to carry out a mortgage valuation on behalf of one of the bigger lenders and she could not even determine the construction. In fact, she wrote to the homeowner for assistance. God help us if this is the quality.
Peter
16 Jun 2011 | 14:31
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This week’s star comment came from HW who gave us his thoughts on homebuyer surveys.
Surveyors have not been immune from the economic downturn and I view this article as just trying to drum up business. In my experience a homebuyer survey is a vastly overpriced cop-out, and full of “backside covering” recommendations. How to increase the percentage of surveys? Simple. Drop the price and encourage the surveyor to take responsibility for his action.
HW
16 Jun 2011 | 14:58
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This week’s star comment came from Bill Wells who gave us his thoughts on whether the FSA should be able to intervene with the design of financial products:
Okay – the banks mis-sold some PPI.
Okay – some people complained that they didn’t realise their endowment might fall short of target.
Okay – some investment managers make a few bob over-charging for their lacklustre funds. But where are the real problems for investors?
We have a regulator that is so incompetent that without taxpayers money, millions of people would have lost their life savings held in safe deposits with major high street banks.
Then we have the taxman. HMRC cripples us all with income tax, CGT and IHT. Are the FSA really qualified to intervene in the design of financial products?
Bill Wells
14 Jun 2011 | 12:33
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