Broker Voice
Stronger together Principal backing for the new AR regime
John Kent Managing Director White Rose Finance Group
A
s a result of the FCA’s Appointed Representatives regime review, all principal firms have received a Section 165 notice requesting additional data on the ARs in their network. The notice also requires principal firms to provide more comprehensive information on new AR applications. To comply with these requests, we have had to update our systems and processes. The benefits of being part of a community or network are well established and those of us who forge professional relationships recognise we are stronger together. As a minimum, a broker network can provide regulatory guidance and support, access to tools along with a much wider lender panel than an individual broker would be able to command. There has been a recent move in the sector towards more education and increased professional standards with several recently launching training programmes designed to improve client experience and outcomes. The time and resource required to facilitate the improvements required by the regulator has not been inconsiderable, but in our experience, it is worth the investment. The closer we work with our ARs, the more successful they become and of course, that’s better for us and the clients. 48 | NACFB
In fact, since 2014, we have continuously looked to improve the performance of our network and saw the FCA’s AR regime review as validation of our direction of travel. Now that the new policy is in place, the need to formally tighten the relationship is essential.
AR viewpoints Some ARs may view the new regulations as an increase in bureaucracy and even intrusive, but I’m glad to say that the majority of ARs I’ve spoken to welcome the additional communication and support. It is almost nine years since White Rose launched the ‘Brokerplan’ proposition with the intention of recruiting a handful of brokers as Appointed Representatives (ARs). The only constant throughout that time has been continuous change, with the last three years being notably unpredictable as external factors have played their part.
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There may be a minority who may choose to exit the sector