Fraud risks in COVID loan schemes
When a senior officer from the National Crime Agency warns MPs about the substantial amount of fraud within the emergency loan schemes you know there is a problem. With £43bn of government backed loans being provided to 1.4 million firms in a very short space of time, we should not be surprised. At the same […]
Customer calls – today’s challenges
Our clients have identified three major issues right now: Increased volumes without proper resources in place Our solution Staffing Services Staff working from home receiving and making calls Our solution Yabber Remote Quality control and compliance teams working remotely as well Our solution Yabber Managed Service We are still open and here to help you […]
Rockstead gains quality assurance recognition
In a recent press release we announced that we had become fully registered on the FSQS supplier qualification system, managed by Hellios. FSQS is a community of leading financial institutions including banks, building societies, insurance companies and investment services, who collaborate with the primary objective of improving standards in the supplier industry. We are delighted […]
Payment holidays – the risks for lenders
With the announcement that the payment holiday scheme is being extended for a further 3 months, with 1.8 million borrowers already having taken that option, it is now clear that number will increase significantly. We estimate that up to 30% of borrowers will take at least a 3 month payment break, as some that did […]
64 million reasons to reduce call handling risk
A regular theme in conversations with our clients, both Rockstead and Yabber’s, is the true cost of non-compliance. We make no excuse for banging on about it – too often we learn that the first functions to be axed as part of a cost-cutting exercise are risk and compliance. Firms who focus on such programmes […]
Mortgage lending – managing workflow and margins
2019 has been an interesting year for mortgage lenders and despite generally pessimistic predictions at the end of 2018, most lenders we work with seem satisfied with their net book growth. However, three factors have presented lenders with significant challenges this year; the management of flow rates, net interest margins and cost controls. Flow rates: […]
The RMBS market is alive and kicking
It also reinforces the continued support for specialist or non-bank mortgage lenders, particularly from global pension funds and debt investors when a number of them are understandably unhappy about the recent lack of central bank funding support. Investors in UK based RMBS have, over the last decade or so, become more confident in the underlying […]
The cost of compliance failure
The FCA website shows the level of fines imposed during 2019 currently stands at a shocking £392 million. That number is significantly up from £60m in 2018 and £229m in 2017. The total cost of failure is, of course, substantially higher than just the fine! It needs to include the investigation costs, administration costs of […]
Mortgage Arrears – time to focus on policies?
The recent UK Finance arrears and possessions conference highlighted several action points for lenders and servicers. The underlying message, which mirrors current regulator themes is clear; organisations should use the current benign arrears environment to “weatherproof” policies and procedures. We were not surprised to hear the renewed focus. Although current arrears numbers are low and […]
Equity Release portfolios – long term risks
The recent PRA consultation paper as part of Solvency II throws the spotlight on how holders of mortgage assets monitor and value long term risk in equity release mortgages [‘ERM’]. The previous consultation set out a test for firms to measure the risks in the form of an Effective Value Test [‘EVT’] and this reflects […]
