FSA REGULATION

Residential Mortgage Contracts became regulated by the Financial Service Authority (FSA) in November 2004. There is a wealth of information and help available for advisers and arrangers of these contracts if you know where to look.

Principles based regulation benefits in keeping businesses flexible and innovative whilst still maintaining high standards. This said, it is also challenging for both practitioners and regulators alike to interpret the meaning of guidance on occasions. This is why there is a wealth of information provided by the regulator, compliance firms such as ourselves supporting the industry and trade bodies who help their members navigate the regulated commercial environment they inhabit. A helpful example of this is the Association of Mortgage Intermediary (AMI) useful FSA information page.

One also has to remember that the FSA is not the only regulator in this space with the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) controlling consumer credit. In 2006 there were amendment made to the old Consumer Credit Act. You can find those amendments here.

Often mortgage clients require mortgage related insurances and many advisers have insurance permissions. The FSA also regulates this area through the Insurance Code of Business source, details of which can be found here.

Telos are proud of their connections with all the regulators and not only attempts to have a definitive position on the interpretation of the regulations in the context of each client but also influences the regulator's own thinking of its interpretations.