Category | Asset Review Updates

The reluctance to increase fixed costs as growth forecasts remain unpredictable is completely understandable and we would say, necessarily prudent, in the current climate. With increasing regulatory oversight, it is crucial to ensure that not only is the customer getting good service delivery, but also that operational efficiency is maximised. What is needed in the financial services sector is a more flexible approach to staffing, particularly to help resolve variable work flows. More than ever firms are turning to temporary expertise to resolve short term staffing issues in a market which...

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Since expanding operations into Ireland and Spain, we have undertaken a number of loan book audits on behalf of purchasers. We have been involved in the assessment of a wide variety of loan book types, including prime rmbs, cmbs, auto financing and unsecured, and a common trend throughout the audits executed is a significant level of data integrity breaches. This problem could be easily overcome by the lender embedding a data integrity focus within their servicing operations long before divestment becomes a reality. The first step in achieving data quality should be part of the lenders business...

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It is not easy ensuring that operations areas within lenders and servicers are adhering to internal or external standards when dealing direct with consumers, particularly by telephone contact. There is a potential minefield of regulatory and compliance issues to consider. And with hundreds of call centre staff to supervise, how can organisations ensure their representatives are behaving appropriately, and complying with Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) principles? The good news, is that in our experience, firms are paying more attention to the training and supervision of their call centre...

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When driving a car it’s obvious that you need to keep your eyes on the road ahead, but it’s a poor driver who does not look in the rear view mirror from time to time or learn from past driving experiences. Similarly within the mortgage industry we are all focused on the way ahead, hoping that gross lending will increase; more people can buy houses or obtain affordable re-financing, but have we learnt the lessons from the past? Has TCF really been embedded into our businesses and are we servicing existing customers correctly? The rising number of cases in longer term arrears continues...

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The MMR clearly retains the overarching ‘responsible lending’ rule, but one of the key elements of the reforms specifically focusses on interest only. In a nutshell, from April 2014, when the new rules kick in, lenders must assess affordability on a capital and interest basis, unless there is a clearly understood and believable alternative source of capital repayment. So the future position is laid out, but what of the ‘interest only time bomb’ of existing loans as reported in various sectors of the financial press? We have been working with interested parties to establish what is really...

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We first reported on the accuracy of data held by lending institutions in June 2011, but it appears the issue is far from being resolved. The recent fine levied by the Financial Services Authorities (FSA) on Bank of Scotland (BOS) for failures within their systems to keep accurate mortgage records for its customers, highlights there is still the need for independent data integrity and cleansing. A £4.2million fine could have been avoided had a structure been in place to identify errors as they occurred and quality control processes implemented. Where legacy systems exist, organisations need...

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