The trade association for the financial and banking industries, UK Finance, held its Annual Mortgage Dinner this month and recent mortgage sector regulatory changes were highlighted during it.
The chief executive of UK Finance, Stephen Jones, gave a speech at the dinner and outlined the work that the association has done during the year alongside the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to create new lending regulations. These are intended to help borrowers who are subject to reversion rates on their mortgages, particularly those who have found their mortgage being sold on to a lender who is not officially licensed.
Among the changes that the FCA and UK Finance have sought to implement is to provide lenders with new guidance on what to do if a borrower falls behind on mortgage payments, so that they do not fall foul of the standards outlined in the Treating Customers Fairly regulatory framework.
This was not the only achievement that Jones drew attention to during his speech, as he also pointed out that UK Finance has spent 2019 developing guidelines that will help mortgage lenders adjust to the change from the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) to the Sterling Overnight Index Average (SONIA). This happens in two years’ time and Jones stated that UK Finance would do everything possible to make sure the mortgage sector was ready for it.
Given the way this speech highlighted unregulated operators in the industry, it makes sense to complete a CeMAP mortgage advisor course to prove that you are a legitimate broker.
