We kick off our editor’s picks this week with an explainer of base rates and swap rates and the impact on mortgage pricing considering the base rate decision on Thursday. The base rate was lowered for the first time since 2020 by 0.25% to 5%.

The piece outlined how tracker and standard variable rates (SVRs) would most likely fall, but fixed rate pricing may be slower to fall as base rate cuts have already been accounted for in swap rates, which are used by lenders to price their fixed rate mortgages.

Next on the editor’s picks list is an interview with Nadine Edwards, national account manager at NatWest, about the firm’s plans around its proposition and strategy going forward.

The FCA’s update a year on from Consumer Duty saying that the regulation was already having a “tangible impact” was also of interest.

A win for the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI) caught our eye, with protection out of scope from the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA’s) Advice Guidance Boundary Review.

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Finally, rounding out the editor’s picks list, Paragon’s Louisa Sedgwick and Jonathan Workman along with Arindom Basu, founder and CEO of Digilytics, video interview talking about its origination platform also piqued our interest this week.

Base rate vs swap rates: What’s next for mortgage rates?

Our lending journey is a ‘win for all of us’, says NatWest’s Edwards

Consumer Duty already having ‘tangible impact’, says FCA

FCA says protection is out of scope of Advice Guidance Boundary Review in win for AMI

Paragon prepares to roll out origination platform with ‘upfront decisioning’

What do you think of our picks? Let us know what your top stories this week were in the comments.