Consultant Zone

Dangers of Real Estate Owned (REO) portfolios in Catalonia

Dangers of Real Estate Owned (REO) portfolios in Catalonia

A new Law Decree was implemented on 27 March 2015 by the Generalitat de Catalonia, together with further rules set by the Law Decree 67/2015 dated 5 May 2015, which may affect portfolio investments from a timing and cost perspective. The first new law adopts a series of measures e.g. communicating formally to the Agència […]

Regulatory challenges – are lenders truly ready?

As we come towards the end of another year, the focus, particularly in the mortgage industry, remains firmly on regulatory matters. Most lenders are in the final stages of testing systems to ensure they comply with the Mortgage Credit Directive (MCD) which comes into force in March 2016. The industry still has a chance to […]

Vulnerable customers and collections processes

Payment performance, particularly over the last couple of years, is a critical issue for acquirers of mortgage assets.  In a continuing low interest rate environment it is essential that existing customers are handled in a compliant manner. There has been recent commentary about the effect an interest rate rise could have on the performance of mortgage […]

Regulatory Risk

More on the Mortgage Credit Directive from Rockstead. A timely warning from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has been issued to both intermediaries and lenders highlighting the inherent dangers that are on the horizon if they are not prepared for implementation of the Mortgage Credit Directive (MCD) by March 2016. From an introducer’s perspective, offering […]

Embedding the MMR; how well have firms done?

The FCA has released its first thematic review on key findings relating to the quality and suitability of mortgage advice provided by firms since the Mortgage Market Review (MMR) implementation in April 2014. The findings in general were positive. Examples of good and poor practise, particularly relating to the up-front sales process, were identified. Some […]

Mortgage books are selling above par – based on what?

Figures released recently by the CML show gross lending in Q2 of 2015 at £52.2billion which is a welcome boost for the industry. The re-entry of investment banks and hedge funds providing funding lines to support the traditional savings model has resulted in mortgage lending levels being at their highest since 2008. Now further funding […]

The importance of monitoring complaints

Recent headlines surrounding the record £117m fine levied on Lloyds Banking Group for its failings and ‘unacceptable’ conduct in handling claims over payment protection insurance (PPI) is a warning to any company. Complaint handling, and in particular PPI complaint handling, is a high priority issue that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) continues to address. The […]

Securitisation and due diligence

The Joint Committee of the three European Supervisory Authorities has recently issued recommendations around disclosure requirements and obligations relating to due diligence and supervisory reporting within existing EU law on Structured Financial Instruments. One of the main recommendations that came out of the report was the need to establish a harmonised due diligence and disclosure […]

Mortgage Credit Directive

It is now a year since the implementation of the Mortgage Market Review (MMR) and whilst we can all point to instances where it appears to have given lenders a backstop reason for declining what appear to be perfectly sensible lending decisions, there is no doubt that it has brought regulation to the forefront of […]