We provide market updates on important issues to key figures in the industry on different topics, but all related to our activities throughout Europe. We cover hot news stories and give our honest opinion on developments, threats and opportunities.
Our articles can be in the form of e-shots, ‘white papers’ or social media commentary, but we will not comment on trivial matters – you will not see us commenting on what type of coffee we are drinking whilst waiting for a train! You can catch up on our previous commentaries by looking at the archive below.
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At the time of writing, despite the rumours of an extension being granted, there are around 5 weeks before the Stamp Duty holiday expires on 31 March. UK property transactions are often subject to delays and bottlenecks, but the risk of delay has never been so potentially expensive for consumers as a £400k purchase will […]
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 […]
Every January the FCA announces the fines total for the previous year. The 2020 totals were not quite as high as the 2019 figure, but it has still issued fines of more than £500m in those two years – and that takes into account early settlement discounts. Included in the 2020 figure was a […]
The FCA approach to supervision is not new having been put in place 18 months ago, but it has now further tightened the regulatory ratchet for lenders and others with Dear CEO/Board of Directors letters to the different types of businesses it has identified. The FCA groups firms into portfolios (dare we suggest individual bubbles?) […]
Regulatory guidance lands on lenders’ desks in a variety of formats; guidance notes, consultation documents, policy updates, notifications of regulatory fines, Dear CEO letters and, on occasions (in respect of key concerns) letters addressed to the whole Board of Directors. The latter should currently be a focus of Lifetime Mortgage Providers’ Boards as they received […]
Followers of FCA regulatory trends know that what appears in a consultation today is likely to become the rule tomorrow – or at least remarkably close. This shows the detailed thought process and analysis the FCA carries out before going public. The same can be said for information contained in FCA annual reports or outlooks. […]
The timing may seem a bit strange, but the focus, as the scheme is about to come to an end, has been redirected to the issue of compliance. We suggest this should have been done earlier in the process. The early focus of CBILS funders and lenders was the quick processing of loans to assist […]
Later life and ‘last time’ buyer lending is a product area where growth rates are outstripping traditional lending. Some commentators are genuinely surprised at the growth and innovation over the last 6 months But looking at the drivers, it is not surprising to see why. Many lenders are looking to develop product ranges away from […]
