Your financial ombudsman org uk Information
I am an Australian citizen based in the UK and have been looking to purchase a property in Australia in anticipation of my returning home over the next few years. I had initially thought I would apply to my own bank but after speaking with an expatriate friend who recommended I seek the services of a mortgage broker, I did exactly that.
I asked my buddy what one should look out for when retaining the services of a mortgage broker? His advice was to deal with a mortgage broker who is a member of the MFAA. It seems that at this stage in Australia there is no national regulation of mortgage brokers. Western Australia introduced legislation to regulate the activities of mortgage brokers in that State in 2007. The mortgage broker and non-bank lender industry have been lobbying for uniform legislation to avoid the costs and difficulties of meeting different requirements in individual states. Until recently this seemed unlikely but now the Australian Federal Government has received the go ahead from all the states and has undertaken to introduce uniform legislation for the mortgage industry as soon as possible.
In the meantime it is important that when dealing with a mortgage broker you check that he or she is a member of the Mortgage Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) because this body does offer training and requires a mortgage broker to meet specific standards of professionalism in his business. It also requires that mortgage broker members pass certain tests in relation to any legal requirements connected with mortgage broking activity e.g. The Anti-Money Laundering Act, Privacy Act, The Uniform Credit Code.
An added benefit of dealing with a mortgage broker who is a MFAA member is that all members (includes mortgage brokers, non-bank lenders etc) are also members of a recognised dispute resolution entity. In the case of the MFAA, most of its 13000 members are members of COSL (Credit Ombudsman Services Limited). This is an ASIC-approved external dispute resolution scheme (similar to the Financial Ombudsman Scheme) and gives consumers access to a free dispute resolution process should anything not be satisfactory about the services or product provided by a member mortgage broker. In the excitement of purchasing a new home, borrowers can often overlook the detail of their home loan – what are the terms and conditions? Do they give you the flexibility the mortgage broker promised? Is the interest rate the same as initially conveyed to you by the mortgage broker? Do you have an interest only period for up to 5 years so that should circumstances require you can keep your home loan repayments to a minimum and thereby reduce if not avoid the possibility of a default. Some borrowers commit to higher principal and interest payments without really knowing how they will budget Far better to enter an interest only loan and make additional repayments of principal as and when you can afford to – almost all home loan mortgages that are interest only will also allow you to make additional repayments of principal. You should discuss your cash flow position with your mortgage broker so that the home loan applied for is one that you can adequately service. An MFAA mortgage broker should then be well positioned to seek the most appropriate home loan for you.
Article author: jillayne smith
Offshore Investment Guide
This is the first in a series of articles that are not intended to be a definitive technical reference manual. The aim is to convey the essence of each subject summarised, highlighting the majority of advantages and disadvantages attributable to each type of investment. In this way Private Investors can assess the various plus and minus points of the many investment options available to them. This can be achieved at a leisurely pace without any pressure.
When you have read the information related to your own circumstances, you will be able to easily and quickly structure your own profile in line with your individual investment philosophy. Reading these articles will help you learn more about 'Offshore Investing'.
About UK Regulated Financial Advice
The UK Financial Services Act 1986 laid the foundations for what is arguably the most stringent and robustly regulated financial legislation in the world today.
All UK financial advisers and investment institutions must be authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.
Persons that provide financial advice, including homeowner mortgages, must demonstrate their competence by passing the requisite examinations related to the type of financial advice given. Further more, advisers are required to keep up to date with knowledge to demonstrate their 'continuous professional development.
UK financial advisers fall into three main categories:
" Single Tied Agents that represent one investment company
" Multi Tied Agents of a limited number of investment providers
" Independent Financial Advisers (IFA) that have access to the whole market
Advisers are required to provide their full terms of business together with a copy client agreement that must be signed by the client.
Advisers are required to 'know their clients' by obtaining a thorough fact find about the client's circumstances and financial objectives.
Private Investor Protection
There are a number of rigorously enforced complaints procedures that apply to both UK regulated financial advisers and investment/insurance product providers.
The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS)
The UK FOS deals with all complaints against authorised persons in connection with regulated investment activities. The FOS can award compensation for any loss and/or enforce the respondent to remedy any loss. The maximum compensation is £100,000 plus costs.
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)
The FSCS is empowered to award compensation in relation to:
Protected deposits- Maximum £ 31,700
Protected investments - Maximum £ 48,000
Long term insurance - Minimum 90% (No Maximum)
General insurance &
Investment contracts. - Minimum 90% (No Maximum)
Non UK Regulated Investment Institutions
Ask your adviser about the Regulatory procedures and Compensation schemes related to the offshore jurisdictions where non UK based investment companies are located. The Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey have regulatory and financial protection measures similar to the UK. Other locations in Europe such as Switzerland and Lichtenstein have stringent controls to protect client invested assets. Further a field, the USA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore to name but a few also have robust investor protection regimes.
Article author: Shaun Dalton
Responsibility for human capital falls much wider than just the HR function according to an in-depth survey by the FT Research Centre commissioned by Ceridian, one of the largest providers of human resource services in the world. However, the majority of financial directors spend less than five hours a week on human capital issues. The interviews were conducted with 50 financial and human resource directors of medium and large UK companies.
When asked who had responsibility within their organisations for developing human capital as an asset, respondents came up with different positions. While the position of HR director came top, the board of directors and the CEO followed closely. HR directors and financial directors had different views on the subject. While more HR directors thought it was their responsibility, financial directors seemed to view it as the responsibility of a wider range of senior positions.
Looking at how much time a financial director spent on human capital issues per week, the majority of respondents (58 per cent) felt they or their financial director spent less than five hours. Interestingly, around half of the financial directors felt they invested more time with five spending six to ten hours and five spending 11 to 15 hours.
Penny de Valk, strategy director at Ceridian in the UK, commented: "Human capital is not the sole province of HR. It influences the whole organisation, as the wide spread of multiple answers from our respondents demonstrates. The higher up the corporate agenda the issue is placed the more time is spent on it, especially by those outside HR. However, good HR can add significant value and make a real contribution to an organisation’s performance. It needs to clearly link its best practices with business value."
Most respondents felt that the financial director and HR director regularly worked together on initiatives and kept each other informed with 12 financial directors stating only occasionally. Crucially, only a third of the respondent companies had an HR director as a member of the board.
The research was conducted on behalf of Ceridian by the Financial Times Research Centre. It conducted 50 interviews with 27 financial directors/CFOs and 23 HR directors from a representative distribution of UK companies across different sectors and employment bands, ranging from 500 to over 4,000 employees.
For the purposes of the Ceridian survey, human capital was defined as the value of an organisation’s people in respect of their collective skills, experience, potential and capacity.
Article author: Ceriadian Corporation
