Mortgage regulation

CML deputy director Peter Williams said: "We recognise the huge scale of the task undertaken by the FSA.  However, lenders now need to move into the new regime without causing disruption to customers or to the market. 

"To do this, they must have a reliable and readily accessible means of checking whether an intermediary is properly authorised. The FSA register is the only practical way to do this, and lenders will be relying on it as the authoritative source. 

"Lenders do not want to reject or delay a customer’s application but they cannot ignore that, from Monday, it will be a statutory requirement that they only do business with an authorised intermediary. 

"If there are not straightforward and reliable ways of checking this, there could be some disruption, but lenders will make every effort to minimise this."

Stakeholder Response: Which?

 Laurence Baxter, senior policy adviser at Which?, said: "This is definitely a win for consumers.

"People looking for a mortgage should be able to count on the FSA not only to regulate the market but also to provide recourse if things go wrong. 

"This comes after years of campaigning from Which? asking for better consumer protection, clearer information on mortgage terms, and advisers to be more accountable. 

"The FSA has delivered the tools. Now the FSA is on notice to use them."