Outsource Issue 23 - (Page 70)

Review Ructions The UK’s Financial Services Authority has set out discussion points which could have serious ramifications for third-party advisors in the mortgage industry – and, as we found out, opposition is mounting… n October 2009, in the wake of the most severe economic crisis since the Great Depression – and well aware that said crisis had its roots in the home-financing market – the UK’s Financial Services Authority (FSA) published a discussion paper known as the Mortgage Market Review (MMR). This paper, expressly setting out “the case for regulatory reform of the mortgage market” and “aimed at everyone involved in this market – consumers, consumer groups, investors, intermediaries, lenders and trade bodies”, according to the FSA, I 70 ● has since been followed by a number of supplementary documents and statements including a feedback report and consultation papers. Nevertheless, despite what the FSA is keen to highlight as a significant engagement with interested parties, the MMR has come under heavy fire from several quarters of the mortgage industry and associated activities – including those with relevance to areas of outsourcing. Towards the end of last year, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) – an industry association representing 98 per cent of UK mortgage lending by volume – attacked the MMR on a number of points, debating its findings and urging increased communication and consultation with consumers. This move, along with increasingly vociferous criticism from some commentators and service providers – as well as some parliamentarians including Labour’s George Mudie who told a Treasury Select Committee meeting that he was “horrified” by the MMR – has propelled the MMR back into the headlines and drew a strong response from the FSA in January (see below). “I am horrified by the MMR. I think the FSA has lost its balance, to guard against ‘you were weak and are still weak’, they have swung the other way and they could damage the building industry and the mortgage industry” - George Mudie ●● www.outsourcemagazine.co.uk http://www.outsourcemagazine.co.uk

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Outsource Issue 23

Outsource Issue 23
Contents
News & Comment
IT Security
Ian Collard
More Than Just A Headcount
Call Centre Technology
Social Issues
Understanding Value
Cutting Through The Noise
All In The Genes?
It’s Time For Contact Centres To Get Socially Responsible
Right From The Start
All In The Game
Relationship Management Centres
NOA Roundup
Document Management
Digital Vision
Review Ructions
Provider Perspective
A New Reckoning?
Head-to-Head
The Music of Outsourcing
Accelerating Innovation
Labour Arbitrage
Top Ten Tips
The Legal View
HfS: New outsource Partner
Online Round-Up
Sourcebites
Inside Source
The Last Word

Outsource Issue 23