Financial Policy Committee
The Financial Services Authority had the authority to oversee the financial services industry within the United Kingdom. The Financial Services Authority is also called the FSA and was considered the authority for being the official watchdog of the financial industry. In 2010 announcement was made that the FSA would be abolished and by 2012 would be replaced by several other regulatory groups such as the Financial Policy Committee or FPC.
The Financial Policy Committee is modeled much like the Monetary Policy Committee or MPC, and both are official committees under the responsibility of the Bank of England. The FPC is responsible for monitoring the financial industry and economic condition of the United Kingdom and is part of a reform to help strengthen the financial health of the UK. The head of the Financial Policy Committee is the Governor of the Bank. The minutes of the FPC minutes are to be made publically available like those of the Monetary Policy Committee to help increase the transparency of the government.
One important task of the Financial Services Authority in regards to homeowners who are interested in remortgages was the establishment of a listing of authorized financial institutions that could be trusted to do remortgage business. This listing is called the FSA Register. Homeowners rely on the register and the search engine tool to search that list to look up and determine if a financial group is trustworthy. This list is updated according to need and is available on their official Web site at http://www.fsa.gov.uk. A homeowner can quickly look up someone or a financial lender or broker to determine if the person has been authorized to work with consumers to advise or help them obtain a remortgage. There are people who function in the capacity to advice and do lending of remortgages but are not on the list. This would mean that the FSA has not authorized them as a professional and trustworthy authorized person or group to do so. It is the responsibility of the homeowner to make sure they are working with someone on the FSA Register.
The FSA Register 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 a homeowner that function would be to service a consumer in regards to remortgages. With the closing out of the FSA this register will continue to exist and will be overseen and become a part of the services of the new Financial Policy Committee as the FPC takes over the services that were once fully under the authority of the FSA.
A remortgage is an important financial transaction. A homeowner should assure that not only are they getting the best service they can from a remortgage provider but the best advice. It is the advice obtained that can make the biggest difference in the success or satisfaction with a remortgage. A homeowner should make the effort to get the best professional for their needs to fulfill the role of their remortgage expert.