The authority figure of the UK financial system for years has been the Financial Services Authority. Otherwise known as the FSA, the group was always viewed as the watchdog of the financial industry. In late 2010, an announcement was made which would change the landscape of the UK financial system forever. The news which made top billing was the FSA would be abolished, and by year 2012 would be replaced by several other regulatory groups such as the Financial Policy Committee or FPC.
Modeled much like the Monetary Policy Committee, or MPC, the FPC is also an official committee under the Bank of England. It is shouldered with the task of monitoring the financial industry and economic health of the UK. The FPC also bears the burden of reforming and strengthening the financial might of Great Britain. The individual who heads up the effort and is the leader of the FPC is the Governor of the Bank. The meeting minutes for the FPC will always be made public, just like the Monetary Policy Committee. This practice is done to aid in the transparency of the government.
Remortgage business is sizeable within the UK. The FSA routinely could be used as a source for a list of authorized financial institutions which could be trusted partners in the remortgage sector. The resource is referred to as the FSA Register. The register is used as a qualifying tool to determine a group’s trustworthiness. The list is constantly updated and is available on the official website, http://www.fsa.gov.uk. With this list in hand, a homeowner is able to quickly make the decision of trusting the group to do their remortgage, or not. Of course, just like any other industry, there are companies on the list which still are in the practice of completing remortgages. This means that the FSA has not given their full vote of confidence and that the consumer is stepping forward at their own risk.
The register put together by the FSA and is referred to as being “designed to be a public record of those firms that are, or have been, regulated or registered by us and the individuals within firms who are ‘approved’ to carry out particular functions.”
For the everyday homeowner, the remortgage register will simply be governed by a differently named group. The function of the FPC in regard to the register will be similar. Since the services which ruled the financial district under the FSA name will not drastically change, the FPC will now oversee most parts of the UK financial
The process of a remortgage is an important financial transaction. The FPC can aid in the ability of the homeowner to make a sound decision when the possibility of a remortgage is in the air. The group is accessible, and is available to aid any homeowner in making one of the most important financial decisions. Aside from the original decision to purchase the property, no other financial decision could make such an impact like a remortgage could.
