This week’s top five stories:
1) Mortgage misselling claims will “start slowly but snowball”
A claims management boss said interest-only, sub-prime and self-certification mortgage borrowers will start to launch misselling claims slowly, but volumes will build to a crescendo.
2) FSA bans jailed adviser after £150k fraud
A former adviser who was jailed for two years for stealing £150,000 from his grandmother has been banned by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
3) Ex-mortgage adviser jailed for eight years after £7m con
A former mortgage adviser has been jailed for eight years after stealing £7m from a number of investors.
4) Woolwich to restrict interest-only to ‘affluent’ customers
Woolwich is to restrict its interest-only mortgage products to customers with a minimum loan size of £300,000.
5) Barclays wants to ‘sweat’ more sales from direct advisers
Barclays will look to increase sales from its direct channels due to the costs associated with turning its sales force into qualified advisers.
Here are some stories you may have missed:
Lloyds withdrawal will give NatWest expat mortgage ‘monopoly’
The decision to cease offering expatriate mortgage products across Lloyds Banking Group, including Halifax and BM Solutions, will leave NatWest with an effective monopoly, according to an industry expert.
As one door closes, another opens for advisers – L&G
Over the last few months we have seen a number of large financial institutions close down their sales forces, which used to provide face-to-face financial investment advice.
Co-op launches 90% LTV fee-free fix at 3.99%
The Co-operative Bank has launched a market leading two-year fixed rate available up to 90% loan-to-value (LTV).
Mortgage misselling – the claims are on their way
Last week, news reports suggest claims management companies have set out their stalls and are ready to launch mortgage misselling claims, with particular attention to interest-only. We asked our experts, if they expect mortgage misselling to be the next wave of claims to hit mortgage advisers?
Repossessions up north hitting 90s levels – FSA
Repossessions in the north are currently at least as high as 20 years ago despite the fact the rest of the country is doing far better, said Marin Wheatley, managing director, conduct of business unit at the FSA.
Tweets of the week:
Rob Jupp @robjupp
Record day of completions at @brightstarHub which is a little random for a Thursday and this early on in the month.
Victoria Hartley @HartleyPea
Chair on Prisk’s speech #cmlconf – Ask not how many houses your country can build for you, but how many you can build for your country.
Paul Broadhead @Paulibroadhead
Great afternoon at @BSABuildingSocs Annual Lunch. Caught up with lots of great Mutual CEOs, MPs, peers, stakeholders and journalists.
Henry Pryor @HenryPryor
Wow! Huge @rightmove survey suggests 45% of those looking to buy in London in next 12 months will be FTBs. Naive?
