The intermediary arm of Skipton Building Society said it aimed to be up and running with the MCD by the new year.
The KFI document is due to be phased out by 2019 and replaced by the ESIS, which will introduce new information such as a second APR charge and a ‘reflection period’. Those lenders that choose not to adopt the ESIS imminently will be required to use the KFI+ from March next year.
Kris Brewster, Skipton’s head of products (pictured), said: “We want to reassure brokers and help them as they navigate their way through this new legislative challenge. That’s why we’ve opted to issue the ESIS from the start, rather than implement the KFI+ and then later down the line move on to the ESIS. Launching early will also ease transitional pipeline challenges around binding offers and cooling off periods.”
Brewster added the lender was happy to be up front with its plans for MCD and aimed to support consumer buy-to-let customers in the process.
“We believe consumer buy to let is massively important in aiding customer mobility, particularly the need for let to buy solutions to remain on offer in the marketplace,” he said.
Skipton also announced it would no longer accept applicants who earn in foreign currency from 1 October. Under the MCD which goes live on 21 March 2016, lenders who offer foreign currency loans must put in place additional consumer safeguards to protect customers against exchange rate risk.
Brewster explained that it would be unable to accept applicants who did not earn or plan to repay their mortgage in sterling as it was not cost effective for the lender in terms of managing risk.
This week both Lloyds Banking Group and Clydesdale Bank announced they would cease foreign currency lending as a result of the MCD rules.
