Responding to the publication by the Financial Services Authority of its thematic review of mortgage fraud, Robert Sinclair, director of AMI, said: “We continue to support the drive to reduce the level of fraudulent activity in the mortgage market. However, for mortgage fraud to be prevented all parties must be diligent, including lenders and solicitors.
“Fraudulent mortgage applications are not solely restricted to intermediated sales. Lenders need to consider how their own direct sales staff can also be involved in fraudulent transactions.
“Lenders should be diligent when reviewing their broker panels but any action taken should be appropriate and proportionate.
“A register of individuals operating in the mortgage market would be a welcome additional source of information to all mortgage firms. AMI has long supported the adoption of such a register, which would help all firms to identify the very small number of rogue individuals operating in the mortgage market and prevent them from moving between firms.
“We are therefore disappointed that FSA has delayed the introduction of individual registration for mortgage sellers until at least 2013.”
