Day: June 11, 2025

Catalyst Property Finance has appointed Becky Harris to the dual-faceted role of chief financial officer and chief operating officer. Prior to joining Catalyst, Harris worked at MSP Capital for over eight years. She started her MSP career as finance manager and progressed through to become finance and operations director. Catalyst chief executive officer Chris Fairfax says: “We are thrilled to welcome Becky to Catalyst in this pivotal new role. Her exceptional blend of financial acumen and operational expertise will be critical as we navigate our next phase of expansion.” “This appointment reflects our dedication to building a resilient and scalable business, and Becky’s leadership will undoubtedly enhance our capabilities across the board.” Harris adds: “I am incredibly excited to join Catalyst Property Finance at such a dynamic time. There are great synergies and opportunities for us to grow the business, and I look forward to contributing to its continued success.” “I am eager to work with the talented team to achieve our strategic goals and further solidify Catalyst’s position in the market.” In April, Brilliant Solutions added Catalyst Property Finance to its lender panel. The post Catalyst appoints Harris as CFO and COO appeared first on Mortgage Strategy.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) says it has stepped up its’ fight against finfluencers and other financial crimes, but concedes that resources and court backlogs are acting as a brake on quicker progress. Asked by Labour MP and Treasury Committee member John Grady MP how the FCA was dealing specifically with finfluencers and whether it would increase prosecutions, FCA chief executive Nikhil Rathi said the regulator took its role to protect consumers in the mid-low income brackets very seriously as they were most vulnerable to unscrupulous unregulated online ‘advice’ services. Rathi said finfluencers were a significant and increasing phenomenon across social media with FCA data showing around 36% of adults accessed social media for their financial information and advice. “We have been very proactive with the big tech firms to make sure that they only allow paid for financial promotions from firms that are registered with us. Finfluencers often operate cross border so while we have made a number of charges some won’t get to trial until 2027 due to the backlog in the courts. He added: “We continue to undertake arrests, these gangs tend to operate cross border which is why we have collaborated with our colleagues in a number of other jurisdictions. We have massively scaled up our work to take down problematic financial promotions, last year 20,000 were asked to be taken down or withdrawn compared to  570 a few years ago.” Going forward, Rathi said that in terms of numbers of prosecutions, FCA was incredibly active in both prevention and enforcement and in time we would see whether that was reflected in numbers going up or not. “To get successful prosecutions will take time as these things have to go to trial and we have to wait and see what judges say. And we have to look at our overall financial crime work and this (finfluencers) is just one aspect of it. We have to make choices across the breadth of financial crime of how we deploy resources. Big tech On the subject of FCA  working with the big tech firms, Lib Dem MP Bobby Dean asked whether the big tech firms tended to be reactive rather than proactive. Had the FCA been in discussion with big tech about doing more? Rathi said that was happening but that the FCA had to operate within its powers and could not force the big tech firms to take down promotions that the regulator regarded as problematic. In some instances the tech firms were co-operative and proactive but not in all cases. “It is not just the speed at which promotional material can be taken down but also how quickly new accounts can be created with almost identical content.” He explained that as things stand it is the FCA (not the platforms) deploying resources to search for these repeat promotions. Rathi agreed that an ongoing argument was who should pay or share the bill for any compensation for rogue financial promotions that hurt consumers’ pockets. Committee member and Labour MP Dame Siobhain McDonagh suggested finfluencers were able to mislead consumers partly due to a lack of financial understanding. She asked whether improved education was an important factor and whether building societies and mutuals could play a bigger role in terms of advice on product awareness and risk. “There will absolutely be a greater role for building societies and mutuals in providing more information and we think there is quite a lot people can do already, it is a question of risk to clarify when simplified advice can be provided and also put in a regime for targeted support so you can give advice to cohorts of consumers rather than just relying on personalised advice; and also digitalises advice services making that much more feasible,” Rathi said. In terms of financial education in society, Rathi conceded that compared to some other countries, the UK clearly had some work to do to improve. The post FCA defends finfluencer prosecutions record appeared first on Mortgage Strategy.

Afford.Mortgage has launched an open banking tool for mortgage brokers. The new platform has been designed to streamline client assessments, reduce application rejections and enhance adviser efficiency. Brokers will have access to instant affordability snapshots, a mortgage readiness assessment, tailored advice and AI document verification. It will also be able to use the mortgage readiness assessment. Afford.Mortgage product manager Andy Thomson says: “In developing our in-house software, we assessed over 5,000 applicants to determine affordability, verify income, and evaluate mortgage eligibility.” “Recognising its potential, we’re now offering this capability to mortgage brokers. Afford.Mortgage shows a clear picture of your client’s finances, making it easier to have honest, fact-based chats without getting drowned down in admin.” “While mortgage advice is indeed an art, integrating the right science can enhance the advisory process, allowing brokers to focus more on client relationships and less on paperwork.” The post Exclusive: Afford.Mortgage launches open banking tool for brokers appeared first on Mortgage Strategy.

Vernon Building Society has joined the lending panel of Connect Mortgages’ broker network. Its intermediary members will now have access to the mutual’s range of mortgage products, including residential lending, self-build and later life, as well as buy to let and holiday let options. The building society has a focus on underserved markets and underwriting complex cases, to help widen homeownership. Vernon Building Society head of mortgage and savings distribution Brendan Crowshaw says: “We have real people individually assessing and underwriting each mortgage so we can say ‘yes’ to borrowers who would otherwise find themselves excluded from mainstream lending. “It means we receive a number of ‘off-panel’ applications, which happened recently with Connect, so we contacted the firm about working together. Crowshaw adds that the network’s “mortgage specialisms complement what we’re able to provide, and it makes sense”. The post Vernon BS joins Connect Mortgages lending panel appeared first on Mortgage Strategy.

The Financial Conduct Authority has appointed Sarah Pritchard to the new post of deputy chief executive to manage the watchdog’s growing workload as it manages new areas while bidding to cut red tape. The regulator says the post been created to reflect its “expanding remit, with the integration of the Payment Systems Regulator, regulation of stablecoin and crypto firms as well as buy now pay later activities”. The watchdog has this month begun its second review of the home loan market this summer. The wide-ranging review will look at “the future of the mortgage market” and assess the industry’s “collective appetite for risk”. It adds that Pritchard (pictured), who joined the body in 2021, will also work on the agency’s international focus, given its role in supporting UK growth and competitiveness. Previously, Pritchard led the body’s markets unit. Before joining the FCA she was the director of the National Economic Crime Centre, part of the National Crime Agency. FCA chief executive Nikhil Rathi says: “Since joining us, Sarah helped bring together our supervision, policy and competition functions and has led some of our most high-profile work, for example, the once-in-a-generation overhaul of the listing rules and landmark work on financial advice and guidance. “Delivering our ambitious new strategy — to deepen trust, rebalance risk, support growth and improve lives — is a collective endeavour and relies on continued reform. “Sarah’s breadth of experience, in both public and private sectors, makes her ideally placed to help me drive this.” Pritchard adds: “The last four years has been marked by significant reform. I am looking forward to working even more closely with Nikhil so there is no let up in the pace of change, and to ensure we have the right relationships, domestically and internationally, to deliver our ambitious strategy.” The watchdog’s workload grew after an exchange of letters between Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Rathi in December over cutting red tape to free up grow among City firms, which saw the FCA head outline some 50 proposals. The post FCA appoints Pritchard to new deputy CEO post as reform workload mounts appeared first on Mortgage Strategy.