Speaking at Mortgage Solutions’ The Mortgage Event in Bristol today, the FSA’s senior associate Emma Peplow said the European Commission and European Parliament could reach their respective stances on the directive in the early part of 2012 and push it through by the summer.
However, Peplow highlighted that there are still a lot of concerns about the directive and this timeline is only likely if everything is worked out and agreed upon over the coming months.
More than 1,000 amendments to the directive have been tabled by the parliamentary bodies reviewing the proposals.
She said: “There remain parts of the directive where detailed discussions continue and we are not sure of the direction yet.”
Peplow highlighted the fact the FSA remains concerned about the reach of the directive: “There are some things we need to be mindful of. The directive treats all mortgages the same and we think it is much better to focus on the mass residential mortgage market, rather than possibly create a straight jacket for buy to let or bridging.”
In addition, while the EC aims to standardise the information borrowers receive across all states with the European Standard Information Sheet (ESIS), research suggests the UK’s KFI is more popular.
Two studies by the EC and the FSA comparing both documents showed that British consumers prefer the detail contained within the KFI.
