Irish Mortgage Brokers have informed the Central Bank that we will not continue the debt management services industry under their regulation. This blog serves to notify people who may want to enquire with us that we are no longer authorised by the Central Bank (we can still offer insolvency solutions). No clients have been adversely affected and we are liaising with the Central Bank to ensure the termination goes smoothly.
Particular issues relate, in our view, to how the Central Bank has approached the regulation, the delays, repeated requests for identical information and specifically seeking management accounts when audited accounts were provided.
We also faced huge delays from the Central Bank in processing and responding to queries which they resolved by asking for more information rather than accepting blame (point above being one such example).
The efforts thus far seem to amount to seeking unrealistic demands from industry then only pulling back when they are shown to be operationally impossible. In the first ‘consultation’ the Central Bank suggested that a mediator hold indemnity for the entire quantum of debt they were dealing with, that implies that firstly they could be responsible for 100% meaning all underlying assets could be worth zero, secondly, it was impossible to buy such insurance as even Lloyds in London confirmed.
Our firm was providing these services for six years, before the Central Bank ever got involved, long before many others including the now popular ideology driven debt lobbyists , and doing it successfully without a single complaint. Long before other people said a thing about the crisis we were writing guides to help people through this.
Many firms have avoided regulation and are allowed to operate, this creates an uneven field which we choose not to partake in any longer.
The Central Bank requirements are not going to provide better outcomes for customers, they have not done any cost benefit analysis and the weight of the rules will drive up prices for people who are already in trouble, to take part only lends credibility to the fiasco so we are opting out. The new consultation paper (CP82) states repeatedly that it intends to create better outcomes but it is untested and un-costed, relying instead on the same instinctive bad policy that has shaped the industry since the Central Bank took over regulation in this area.
It is no surprise that there are only 23 in the nation. Our view is that regulation has a place, but when it goes to far that playing ball only discredits our professionalism and ability to deliver a quality service at a fair price, and in turn we’d rather do without than go along with rules that make no sense.
Irish Mortgage Brokers continue to offer financial advice and other services in mortgages, investment, and insurance , the team is made up of qualified and regulated advisors. Their sister company Trinity Accountants offer accountancy and auditing services while Seamus Carrick is a registered PIP.
We regret the route the Regulator is taking on this matter, we don’t agree with it, we don’t endorse it and we certainly won’t be taking part in this charade any further.
The appropriate authority is (in our view) the ISI who are far more pragmatic, more transparent, backed by primary legislation and able to keep fly by nights out. –