Virgin Money’s director of intermediary sales Richard Tugwell said earlier this month that the Financial Services Authority’s report would be ‘a fantastic thing’ for intermediaries.
Tugwell also claimed that the MMR would bring increased business into the sector, and 51% of respondents to our poll agree with his prediction.
26% of voters said the report would make ‘little or no change’ to the amount of business conducted through intermediary channels, with 23% expecting the MMR to reduce the amount of business done in this way.
Kevin Banting, director at Oak Grange Mortgages, said that the effect on the industry would depend on the exact recommendations outlined in the review.
“I’m not sure it will create more requests for advice, it all depends on how much influence big lenders and banks have been able to exert on the process.
“My concern is that their contributions to the FSA are so large that the FSA won’t want to upset them. They’re far more likely to bash smaller firms.
“But smaller firms will do okay if the big lenders are forced to provide advice at the point of sale because the cost for it will be big, and do they have the staff to cope?”
