LETTERS
letters to the editor
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Letters should be sent to: The Editor, Mortgage Strategy, 50 Poland Street, London
W1F 7AX. Letters can also be emailed to mortgage.strategy@centaur.co.uk
16
✱ STAR LETTER
Gummer hit nail on the
head regarding FSA role
I couldn’t agree more with John
Gummer’s comments at the
recent Association of Mortgage
Intermediaries dinner about the
Financial Services Authority
(Mortgage Strategy June 6).
As I have mentioned in a
previous letter, it is not just
meteorologists who get well
paid and emerge blame-free
‘‘
Let us not forget
that the people in
recession
risk-free jobs
with limited
commercial
experience take
a conservative
view of risk
REGULATION
www.mortgagestrategy.co.uk
Brokers support call for FSA and
ratings agencies to face the music
● NATALIE MARTIN
Brokers have rallied behind MP John to be done. If we are
eral election is not called soon the
Gummer after he laid the blame for going to solve our
regulator will implement its plans
the credit crisis at the Financial Ser - problems we need to
to restrict lending further and then
vices Authority’s door.
recognise there is
the damage will have been done.”
Speaking at the Association of no easy regulatory
Chris Cummings, director-general
Mortgage Intermediaries’ annual answer.”
of AMI, is calling for regulation that
dinner last week, Gummer, the trade Another speaker
does not come down on the industry
body’s chairman, called for the reg- at the dinner was
in a heavy-handed way.
ulator and ratings agencies to be rep- John McFall, chair- JOHN GUMMER He says: “I sometimes think we
rimanded for their part in the eco - man of the House of REPRIMANDS are edging towards a position of
nomic crisis.
Commons’ Treas- ARE NEEDED
thinking of risk as a bad thing, and
He says: “I am amazed that two ury Committee.
that would be tragic.
parties seem to have got away with- He echoes Gummer’s views and “Without risk there would be no
out criticism.
claims the best type of regulation is reward. We do not want a zero failure
“I believe ratings agencies should self-regulation
regime imposed by the FSA or the
be viewed severely but so far retri- McFall argues that legislation European Commission. We want
bution has not been forthcoming.” solves nothing and would like to see dynamic entrepreneurial businesses
Gummer also argues that the FSA experts from the industry seconded that are able to respond to their cus-
also should take more responsibility to the regulator.
tomers’ needs.”
for the role it played.
The comments have been broadly Michael White, chief executive of
He says: “I am intrigued that it welcomed by brokers.
Email Mortgages, argues that the
seems to have become accepted that Ian Herbert, financial adviser at FSA’s lack of experience in the real
the way to solve the problem and Complete Finance Mortgages, says: world is causing problems.
move forward is by imposing more “At last, some sensible comments He says: “Those who sit in risk-
when they are proved inept.
If we turn to the industry
regulator, let us not forget that
the people who sit in recession
risk-free jobs, many of whom
have limited commercial
experience of the industry they
supervise, tend to take a
conservative view of risk.
I doubt anyone working at
the FSA would be fired for taking
too cautious a view of such
matters. In this context, AMI
director-general Chris Cummings
is of course correct in reminding
the regulator that with reward
naturally comes risk.
By way of a reminder, the FSA has set out its aims under
three broad headings:
● Promoting efficient orderly and fair markets;
● Helping retail consumers achieve a fair deal;
● Improving its business capability and effectiveness.
I am not sure if it’s just me, but I would question
whether any of these aims have yet been met in a
satisfactory fashion.
Of course the recent and arguably injudicious payment
of bonuses would suggest otherwise.
MICHAEL WHITE
CHIEF EXECUTIVE
EMAIL MORTGAGES
Hitting easy targets
fails to hide FSA’s
shameful mistakes
How can we possibly regain the
trust of the public with the
Financial Services Authority
focussing its attention on the easy
targets who were actually victims
of the lack of regulation in the first
place?
I’m not talking about the odd
broker who milked clients’ income
figures but those with previous
convictions on whom the FSA
failed to complete necessary
checks.
This is almost as shameful and
farcical as the MPs’ expenses saga.
Why aren’t mortgage brokers’
representatives chasing the FSA for
its involvement in the whole
situation?
I was just reading an old article
which pointed out that the FSA
spent close to £250,000 for artwork
in its Canary Wharf offices, unlike
me who had to close my office, sack
my staff and work from home.
NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED
BY EMAIL
I have read with interest the
exchange between eMoneyfacts and
The Business Mortgage Company
on the merits or otherwise of their
respective buy-to-let mortgage
sourcing systems in Mortgage
Strategy’s Letters pages.
There appears to be two levels
www.mortgagestrategy.co.uk
of debate – the first is functionality
and suitability of the product and
the second element is the market
capacity the system embraces.
TBMC rightly lists lenders that
can add value to the process by
acting as an experienced
buy-to-let packager. Brokers will
use its system on the basis that they
know at the outset which lenders
are on the TBMC panel.
The suggestion from
eMoneyfacts that its system lists
more than 300 products is at best
disingenuous. Products that are
available from more than one
source are repeated, with the same
product shown twice to cover
different client options.
We have spent several years
developing our own system,
Mortgage Flow, with input from
buy-to-let brokers who have
highlighted the searchable criteria
required to accurately source a
buy-to-let solution. This allows
brokers to determine whether a
deal is worth progressing before
filling in client information.
While we have around 100
products on our system, we feel we
have high quality products that
work for brokers and clients alike.
DAVID WHITTAKER
MANAGING DIRECTOR
MORTGAGES FOR BUSINESS
BY EMAIL
Buy-to-let solution
that works for both
brokers and clients Holiday homes tax
will threaten
rural economies
A year ago the chancellor
announced the abolition of taper
relief on Capital Gains Tax that
threatened to impose an 80% tax
MORTGAGE STRATEGY June 22, 2009
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