Speaking at the Mortgage Business Expo 2011, the FSA’s director of conduct, Shelia Nicoll, refused to be drawn on whether the MMR would be published before the end of the year, but maintained it would be “very shortly.”
Nicoll said: “I can give no guarantees of timing. We are in the final stages of preparing the paper.”
Responding to calls from AMI to stop delaying and publish the MMR immediately, she added: “There is always a balance to be struck in getting something out and getting something right.
“Considering the controversy last summer after we published the MMR, I am sure you understand that we need to take our time and make sure that it is the important issues that come to the floor and it is a rational debate.”
The FSA will run regional events to talk directly to mortgage brokers about the MMR once it is published, Nicoll confirmed.
“You are the ones that know how the market works and we need to listen to that.”
She added: “It will be a long and comprehensive consultation. The responses to the last consultation have allowed us to refine our approach. I can assure you that we have listened very carefully to them all.”
