How are your Policies and Procedures holding up?
New approvals in the mortgage lending industry continue to show an upward trend and the “doom and gloom” of the past few years is starting to lift. There are already signs that competition amongst lenders is becoming more intense and when the current focus on keen interest rates becomes un-competitive from a profitability perspective, there […]
Fraud Reviews
In June 2011 the FSA produced a thematic review looking at mortgage fraud being perpetrated against lenders and visited a number of mortgage lenders to specifically assess their anti-fraud policies and procedures. One of the findings was summarised as “While the majority of firms had systems in place to track and manage mortgage arrears, few […]
Solving short term staffing issues
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 […]
Jackson Reforms – our view
The ‘Jackson reforms’ have now been implemented. Although primarily aimed at an overhaul of personal injury litigation, the reforms will have consequences for all commercial litigation. Despite the fact that expert evidence only plays a minor part in such litigation, a number of the changes will directly affect, and should benefit, professional expert witnesses. One […]
Tick Box Underwriting
We have noticed an increasing number of articles in the trade press aimed at persuading lenders to move away from ‘tick box’ underwriting to a more personalised approach to assessing loans. The general concern seems to focus on the issue of a number of loans being turned down for being slightly outside the lender’s usual […]
Are customers getting a fair hearing?
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 […]
Taking the initiative with Staffing Solutions
We have commented on the need for staffing solutions in a previous update and we have had a lot of positive reaction from customers enquiring about how we can help. The last few months has seen a real upturn in confidence within the financial services sector, resulting in the need for extra staff to cope […]
Due diligence on third party suppliers
At last we are seeing significant uplift activity within lenders in the generation of new residential mortgage business and the time will soon come when the “spotlight” turns to the servicing of these loans as volumes increase. Historically, within lenders, increased volume has resulted in either a less than stringent focus on the quality of […]
Regulatory Update – Ireland
In the UK the face of regulation has changed dramatically and the implementation of the Mortgage Market Review (MMR) in April 2014 adds to the issues lenders need to consider. In Ireland, lenders have also faced a barrage of new or amended regulatory requirements and we are taking the opportunity to list some of the […]
More regulatory pressure on lenders
Although it was only last month we commented on the Mortgage Market Review (MMR) implementation, it is important to remember that 2014 will see more FCA policy initiatives involving retail banking, consumer credit and financial incentives. If we reflect on 2013, there were a number of high profile enforcement cases including, amongst others, JP Morgan, […]
