CeMAP and becoming a mortgage broker
Discussion
Not sure if this should be in finance or jobs ... but ...
Within my immediate family we have a business that requires the regular use of a mortgage broker.
Said family member is struggling to find a decent, reliable broker who is not just trying to earn as much as possible and is doing their due diligence to provide the best product for specialist clients.
The topic arose over Christmas as my partner is looking for a home based job and this would suit perfectly, so I have started to research the regulatory side of this on her behalf;
Complete CeMAP and qualify
Complete official CeMAP exams and become accredited
Obtain CAS (Competent Advisor Status) - Sticking point and need some advice here
Obtain CCL / DPL (If self employed)
FCA regulation (if Self-Employed)
Another option, I believe, is to work under someone else's FCA "Umbrella" and maybe CCL / DPL.
Professional indemnity insurance (If self employed)
I assume the hardest part is the contacts / network; this is already established and essentially she needs the ability to stand on her own two feet as a broker, I do not think any face-face advice will be given.
The FCA site is quite difficult to understand but I believe it requires an "A19" license, registration fees, licensing fees, again if she was to become self employed.
Within my immediate family we have a business that requires the regular use of a mortgage broker.
Said family member is struggling to find a decent, reliable broker who is not just trying to earn as much as possible and is doing their due diligence to provide the best product for specialist clients.
The topic arose over Christmas as my partner is looking for a home based job and this would suit perfectly, so I have started to research the regulatory side of this on her behalf;
Complete CeMAP and qualify
Complete official CeMAP exams and become accredited
Obtain CAS (Competent Advisor Status) - Sticking point and need some advice here
Obtain CCL / DPL (If self employed)
FCA regulation (if Self-Employed)
Another option, I believe, is to work under someone else's FCA "Umbrella" and maybe CCL / DPL.
Professional indemnity insurance (If self employed)
I assume the hardest part is the contacts / network; this is already established and essentially she needs the ability to stand on her own two feet as a broker, I do not think any face-face advice will be given.
The FCA site is quite difficult to understand but I believe it requires an "A19" license, registration fees, licensing fees, again if she was to become self employed.
Depending on how quickly you want this up and running, the application to be Directly Authorised with the FCA might take quite some time and can be very time consuming, due to the recent Consumer Credit changes, a lot of companies who previously didn't fall under the FCA remit now do (car finance etc) and I think they are struggling with the volumes.
A couple of our financial advisers at one of our firms wanted to provide mortgage advice, but as we relinquished that firms mortgage permissions previously, given the time, cost and amount of work involved in setting them up again, we ended up setting them up with a 'Trading Style' under another of our firms who still had permissions.
A couple of our financial advisers at one of our firms wanted to provide mortgage advice, but as we relinquished that firms mortgage permissions previously, given the time, cost and amount of work involved in setting them up again, we ended up setting them up with a 'Trading Style' under another of our firms who still had permissions.
Hello Towser, no real rush in all honesty, I am also in the process of setting up my own firm so this is priority 2 
but it doesn't harm to plan in advance.
I assume the easiest way is to qualify and trade under the "umbrella" of another business with all permissions in place and pay them a % of earnings, whilst fully understanding and learning the business itself?
As this would be a house job / 2nd income I think that arrangement would certainly suit in the beginning whilst the potential is under review.
but it doesn't harm to plan in advance.I assume the easiest way is to qualify and trade under the "umbrella" of another business with all permissions in place and pay them a % of earnings, whilst fully understanding and learning the business itself?
As this would be a house job / 2nd income I think that arrangement would certainly suit in the beginning whilst the potential is under review.
Trexthedinosaur said:
Not sure if this should be in finance or jobs ... but ...
Within my immediate family we have a business that requires the regular use of a mortgage broker.
Said family member is struggling to find a decent, reliable broker who is not just trying to earn as much as possible and is doing their due diligence to provide the best product for specialist clients.
The topic arose over Christmas as my partner is looking for a home based job and this would suit perfectly, so I have started to research the regulatory side of this on her behalf;
Complete CeMAP and qualify
Complete official CeMAP exams and become accredited
Obtain CAS (Competent Advisor Status) - Sticking point and need some advice here
Obtain CCL / DPL (If self employed)
FCA regulation (if Self-Employed)
Another option, I believe, is to work under someone else's FCA "Umbrella" and maybe CCL / DPL.
Professional indemnity insurance (If self employed)
I assume the hardest part is the contacts / network; this is already established and essentially she needs the ability to stand on her own two feet as a broker, I do not think any face-face advice will be given.
The FCA site is quite difficult to understand but I believe it requires an "A19" license, registration fees, licensing fees, again if she was to become self employed.
It's extremely difficult these days to get into this industry, it used to be simple with no qualifications needed but thats not the case anymore.Within my immediate family we have a business that requires the regular use of a mortgage broker.
Said family member is struggling to find a decent, reliable broker who is not just trying to earn as much as possible and is doing their due diligence to provide the best product for specialist clients.
The topic arose over Christmas as my partner is looking for a home based job and this would suit perfectly, so I have started to research the regulatory side of this on her behalf;
Complete CeMAP and qualify
Complete official CeMAP exams and become accredited
Obtain CAS (Competent Advisor Status) - Sticking point and need some advice here
Obtain CCL / DPL (If self employed)
FCA regulation (if Self-Employed)
Another option, I believe, is to work under someone else's FCA "Umbrella" and maybe CCL / DPL.
Professional indemnity insurance (If self employed)
I assume the hardest part is the contacts / network; this is already established and essentially she needs the ability to stand on her own two feet as a broker, I do not think any face-face advice will be given.
The FCA site is quite difficult to understand but I believe it requires an "A19" license, registration fees, licensing fees, again if she was to become self employed.
The biggest issue will be CAS........you can't simply start giving advice without the relevant experience, which is usually 12 months as a minimum. The usual route would be for your other half to get a job work for a Broker or an Estate Agency type firm.....they will have to act as supervisors and sign off on all advice given for at least the first 12 months.
Once CAS is attained she can apply for her own authorisations but will need to decide whether to be Directly Authorised to the FCA (unlikely to get accepted with minimal CAS history) or become an Appointed Representative of a Network who will take responsibility for the compliance element along with providing a regulatory framework to work to. As an AR, you can now piggyback the Networks CCL these days but would still need the DPA Licence.
As for PI, expect to struggle to get anyone to offer PI to someone who is newly authorised with limited CAS.......but if you are an AR of a Network you can usually join their group policy.
Naturally she will need CRB checks, credit checks along with annual Fit & Proper verifications.
Good luck!!
Trexthedinosaur said:
Sarnie, as you are rather experienced within this, is CAS required to be a broker only?
Perhaps the best route here is to work within an already established business and use the existing approvals etc to profit from the business opportunity.
Yes, if you want to provide advice, you need CAS.Perhaps the best route here is to work within an already established business and use the existing approvals etc to profit from the business opportunity.
This is probably one of the most heavily regulated industries in the UK, it's a fairly long road to where she ultimately wants to get to.
Trexthedinosaur said:
I assume that is why the AR and network type stuff is so popular then !
Indeed.........if you go Directly Authorised.......you would be expected to full understand all of the FCA's compliance requirements and implement them full into your business successfully......fail to do that and expect direct censorship from the FCA......and as you've already stated, the FCA website might as well be written in hieroglyphics at times.......some of their white papers are hundreds of pages long, you'd be expected to have read it, understood it and implemented into your business.Being part of Network enables you to let them decipher how the FCA want their directives to be implemented, the Network is responsible for dealing with the FCA and act as kind of a buffer.
By far the best route would be to get a PAYE job as an inexperienced Junior.......learn how to do the job first of all......it's all well and good having CeMap, CAS and all the Licenses.....but if she can't get a grasp of whats required on a day to day basis, they aren't much good. I worked for a large Broker for three years before deciding to leave and set up my own company......that was back before the credit crunch when it was all fairly simple to do.
Good luck!
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