dated 22 March 2006, headed ‘HSBC APPROACH TO ENTERING EQUITY RELEASE MARKET COULD BE BAD NEWS FOR THE CONSUMER SAYS KEY RETIREMENT SOLUTIONS’
1) Key Retirement Solutions wishes to supplement its statement regarding SHIP and would like to point out that SHIP has supported the HSBC move and wants to draw attention to the following quote from SHIP
"We welcome the decision by HSBC to trial an equity release service for its clients. Our SHIP Member Survey in January predicted that many major lenders, including HSBC, would choose to enter the market in the next few years. …. Therefore, the entry to the market of a major high street banking name has to be welcomed and seen as a positive step for the industry. … We are also pleased that HSBC has chosen to team up with a specialist provider who is also a member of SHIP. This provides added peace of mind to HSBC customers as they can be reassured that any plans will be governed by the SHIP Code. … HSBC's decision represents a very positive step for the industry and we are sure that other major lenders will soon realise the benefit of offering their own equity release service for clients."
2) Key Retirement Solutions did not intend to infer in its press release of 22nd March 2006 that HSBC’s product offering was not flexible or competitive.
