COMPLIANCE UPDATES

We have all watched the tragedy evolve in Ukraine with great sadness and anxiety. It is therefore essential that we remain vigilant to ensure we are not a party to any financial crime that aids the conflict. The FCA has recently published the below announcing the new financial sanctions against Russia. It is your regulatory responsibility to ensure you are strictly following the guidance.

Sign up for today’s session to find out how to have the protection conversation with every client – write it, refer it, don’t ignore it

The Lloyds Banking Group which includes lenders such as Halifax and BM Solutions have recently introduced changes to their process of registering appointed representatives from the Connect Mortgages network to their broker panel. These changes will affect advisers looking to register for: (i) the first time, as well as
(ii) advisers already registered

The new process requires two dedicated Connected Administrators (one primary and one deputy) to be registered as the administrator for the appointed representative firm via their lender-issued Panel Number. Therefore, if you feel that you will need to use a lender from the Lloyds Banking Group in the near future, then please contact the Connect Mortgages Registrations Team or Members Support at the earliest opportunity. For further information on what you need to do, please read on.

Unsurprisingly, the top reason for cases being declined in H1 2021 has been Income & Employment Fraud (Staged Income) including both employed and self-employed applicants (over 70% of all prevented cases).

HSBC announce the launch of a new Fraud bi-annual newsletter for Intermediary partners. We hope that you will find the information included useful.

We have an important update that we wanted to bring to your attention as it could affect your mortgage leads which are generated using Google Ads.

Some of you are maybe aware from our previous communication that the FCA has chosen to introduce a new fee for all Appointed Representatives of all networks. At the point of our last communication, this was just a consultation; it has now been confirmed.

Due to the increased demand for support, we have decided to separate the two functions within the help desk. We now have new Member Support and Placement phone lines and email inboxes to provide dedicated support for our Appointed Representatives (AR). 

Watch a short intro from Liz Syms on OMSs new protection ‘reasons why’ paragraphs

Some of you may well have read in the recent press that the FCA has issued their latest fee proposal. ..