For the Association, 2012 marks its second year representing the bridging finance industry as a whole and the intent is to further bring those who are active and influential in the market together to promote working business relationships and contact.
This latest event was designed to create an open forum for discussion in which intermediaries could verbalise their concerns and queries and direct their comments to affiliated lenders, valuers, solicitors and packagers in order to generate a greater level of transparency.
After an hour of breakfast, networking and predictions for what the morning might hold, Associates made themselves comfortable and the stage was set, quite literally, as a panel of 12 AOBP representatives took their positions to face attendees at the Electric Cinema in Notting Hill.
AOBP Chairman and partner at Brightstone Law, Jonathan Newman, opened with a warm welcome and introduced the panel members, which consisted of six Affiliate lenders, two Executive Committee distributors, a compliance expert, a valuer and a solicitor.
Jonathan then kicked off the forum by inviting each person on the panel to highlight a particular topical issue within their immediate arena and to outline their stance on that matter. From the lenders, the main issues brought to light included rates and fees, fraud, the importance of the exit and how vital it is that the intermediary selects a lender which is suitable to their and their client’s needs.
Shaf Ali, valuer at Belleveue Mortlakes, explained the pressure involved in turnaround times relating to bridging valuation reports, while Edward Goldsmith of Goldsmith Williams brought up one of the hottest topics of the moment: dual legal representation.
The audience was then invited to put questions to the panel.
A selection of the intermediaries present proved extremely vocal and generated debate not only between themselves and the panel, but also amongst the panel members themselves. Dual representation is clearly a contentious point amongst lenders, as is how valuations are derived.
The discussion was certainly lively and by 12.30, when the FSA guest speakers arrived for their presentation slot, it was with reluctance that the panel disbanded and handed the floor over to David Forsdyke and Lorna O’Brian. Both David and Lorna are integral to the policy team which is heading up the Mortgage Market Review.
The MMR has caused quite a stir and the future of bridging finance, as well as BTL and second charge lending, is uncertain in terms of the regulator’s approach. David’s talk clarified where bridging finance stands within the proposal and he took a few questions from attendees including expected timescales for implementation and the definition of high net worth clients.
Edward Goldsmith said of the event:
“I thought the venue was fabulous and felt that Jonathan Newman did a great job chairing an event which contained some interesting questions from brokers.”
Bob Sturges, Head of Communications at Omni Capital, added:
“Excellent choice of venue; professionally arranged and conducted with ample valuable networking time to meet with peers and potential clients."
Guests departed gradually and headed into what was a decidedly sunny afternoon. Quite a few viable issues had been brought to light and as a whole the Association had been brought closer together towards a common goal: increasing business opportunities through increased understanding and awareness of the industry.
