Unregulated Loans Campaign

[vicky160985]

Re: Unregulated Loans Campaign

To update from my last post as promised here is the reply I received from the FCA this morning regarding appointed reps and their principles.....


have a complaint against an appointed representative and would like to know if you should complain to them or their regulated principal.



Making a complaint about an AR



An appointed representative (AR) is a firm or person who runs regulated activities and acts as an agent for a firm we directly authorise. This firm is known as the AR's 'principal'.



The principal takes full responsibility for ensuring that the AR complies with our rules and the activity they are authorised to carry out. This means the principal is responsible for the products the AR sells or arranges, advice they give to customers and ensuring they treat customers fairly.



Therefore if you have a complaint against an AR you should take your complaint to the principal firm (but you may wish to copy the AR into your complaint so they are aware of it)



I hope my email helps to clarify your next steps.

*

Kind regards

*

I'm happy with the reply as I shall now take my complaint straight to cheshire mirtgage corporation which IS regulated by the FCA rather than with Lancashire the AR who hide behind their unregulated AR status!

[vicky160985]

Re: Unregulated Loans Campaign

Hello all,

I have sent another email to the FCA today as things are starting to make sense to me now.
I've realised that when contacting the FCA you should avoid bringing up your own personal situation and company involved as this is giving them the excuse to send you on your way.
However, if you simply figure out the part of the regulation your wanting to contact them over and stick purely to that point in a "requesting advice on your principles, definitions etc, then you are likely to receive the help you're looking for.
Simply keep your own situation out of the equation. Ask any questions you may have and within 48hrs you aught to have your answer. You can then take that unbiased information with you and then apply it to your own situation to continue forward with your complaint.
You are still able to quote your findings within your complaint as you did receive the information from the fca.
I have really realised it is all about how you word it.
You can hang any company you want if they have acted against regulation this way.
They can not send you packing and tell you they do not deal with individual complaints as you're not asking for this. Youre merely asking for help to understand the way in which certain things work.

I know this approach has really helped me in making progress so hope it may possibly help others hence me posting this.

X

[vicky160985]

Re: Unregulated Loans Campaign

Here is the email sent today asking for clarity on a few things. No company mentioned but I know exactly what to do with the information when I know what's what with the ability to quote them within future letters to the company in question. :-D

Dear Sir / Madam,

I am currently trying to understand and clarify my understanding with regards to your regulations and i have a few questions i would be most grateful if you could assist me with?

I have obtained the following information from within the Complians PDF's i have downloaded.

I am now of the understanding that if a company is on your register as an IAR, it means that they do have a principle who's licence they carry out buisness under?

I understand that an AR and an IAR are two seperate things with seperate rules applying to each one?

I understand that an IAR IS ONLY allowed to communicate between parties and distribute non real time financial promotions?

I understand that an IAR cannot advise nor can it arrange deals?

The following is detailed within the same PDF documents;

The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, section 19 says:

“No person may carry on a regulated activity [such as promoting, advising, arranging, managing of financial products] in the United Kingdom, or purport to do so, unless he is—
(a) an authorised person [i.e an FCA authorised and regulated firm]; or
(b) an exempt person [i.e an Appointed Representative].”
The penalties for carrying out a regulated activity without having permission to do so is up to two years imprisonment.

With regards to (b) an exempt person.
Can you advise me if an exempt person includes an IAR aswell as an AR?
OR if the IAR is not considered to be exempt? please confirm this by saying so.

With regards to the term "carrying out a regulated activity"
Can you please confirm what is meant by "a regulated activity"? Aswell as including any similar activity which is not considered to be "regulated activity"?

For example, if a company was not exempt from registering for authorisation from the FCA yet continued to offer finance to consumers would that company / agent be held accountable for breaching the rules set out by the FSMA Act 2000, inparticual section 19?

If not to be considered as a breach of the Act then what are the key areas to have the activity exluded from such?
As we have already come to the understanding that it is not exempt, i have chosen the word exluded to avoid confussion however i would appreciate it if you could provide the correct term you would use in this situation aswell as a brief description explaining what form of financial services this would fall under?
As it would differ greatly in that the company / agent / representative involved would require no adhearance to any set rules, regulations or principles.
Also how would a company reach such a favorable trading status with freedom to do exactly as they wished whilst not being answerable to any authority such as the FCA, whom promotes themselves as being responsible for consumer protection from unfair lending?

Thank you so very much for your time and your help with this matter.
I look forward to receiving your reply.

Kind Regards,


P.s. btw the lender I'm learning of is infact an IAR. Nothing more, nothing less! :-D

[vicky160985]

Re: Unregulated Loans Campaign

...... well I am still trying to get a STRAIGHT answer to my rather simple question regarding companies dealing in unregulated lending.
I simply don't understand why some firms pay thousands to become authorised for the same activity that other firms choose not to become authorised / regulated to carry out. Seems rather unfair to those paying to be regulated if u ask me!

Following on from my recent FOI request I received this reply which raises more questions.
P.s. I love the bit about the term loan sharks! And how the FCA ..... the F.C.A. have no understanding of this term...... (yet they exist for consumer protection) its a joke! Quite literally a joke!

Here's that reply


Thank you for your email.

In line with our policy and guidance produced by the Ministry of Justice,
your requests for information was not dealt with under the formal FoIA
regime. This is because your requests were not for 'recorded information';
instead, you had asked us to provide answers or explanations to the
questions you posed. We therefore treated your requests as "routine
correspondence" and passed to our Consumer Contact Centre to respond.
Please note that as we have not processed them under FoIA, we are unable
to complete an internal review of your request.

Since your email below we understand that our Contact Centre sent you a
further response dated 13 May, which we hope further answers your
questions. You raise some further questions in your latest email which our
Consumer Contact Centre have provided the following answers:

Q: Can you provide to me the agreement and terms that a lender acting as
an appointed representative introducer for a regulated company would enter
into with either the FCA or their principle allowing that position to be
held?

A: We can’t provide you with any copies of agreements that AR’s may have
with their principle as this would be a private agreement between
themselves. Principles would have to fill in a form and submit it to us
when they take on an Appointed Representative. You can find the form via
this link -
[1]http://www.fca.org.uk/your-fca/documents...

Q: Also, with regards to lending. What is the actual law for anybody to
lend funds to another person if the lender has no licence or authorisation
to continue doing such from a relevant authorisation?

A: As we aren’t legally trained, we are unable to provide you with any
guidance as to what laws may apply in this situation. I will state that if
a firm/individual is providing services or products which should be
regulated without our authorisation, this could be a violation of the
Regulated Activities Order. [2]Section 60B of this order defines what a
regulated credit agreement is.

Q: With regards to Loan Sharks, how is this term defined within the FCA?

A: We don’t recognise this term and so we have no definition of a ‘loan
shark’.

Q: I simply would like to know what is needed to become a lender or can
anybody do it regardless of authority?

If you would like information on the authorisation process for a lender,
we have a dedicated webpage explaining the steps that firm can take when
they require authorisation. You can find this page via the following link
–
[3]https://www.the-fca.org.uk/authorisation...

If you are still unhappy with the responses you have received please let
us know and we can look into this again for you.

Yours sincerely,

Information Access Team / Finance and Business Services
Financial Conduct Authority
25 The North Colonnade
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5HS

[Sparkie1723]

Re: Unregulated Loans Campaign

I've just read this Vicky ...and this will prove very useful to me in my fight against the COWBOYS I'm fighting. Thanks
Sparkie
https://www.the-fca.org.uk/firms/app...onsumer-credit

[vicky160985]

Re: Unregulated Loans Campaign

I have stumbled upon a very good website which I had to share! I was directed to it via an annotation left on one of my FOI requests. Its worth a look if you have any issues concerning the FCA, the FOS ..... financial services all round really haha!


http://nicholaswilson.com

http://nicholaswilson.com


P.s. Sparkie, thankyou for letting me know my previous post has been of some use to you!!! :-D
Its really made my day! Its such a prolonged and frustrating battle is this but its the likes of this, knowing that I'm not only building my own argument but helping others by sharing things I learn along the way which keeps the fire burning to continue!
So thanks for letting me know! Its really cheered me up today! :-D x

[Sparkie1723]

Re: Unregulated Loans Campaign

Hi Vicky ,
Just to let you know and thank you again I am making use of what you posted and will be submitting this to the FCA based on what you discovered

Dear Sirs
I would like ask for clarification on the following issue please. It concerns the FCA/PRA authorisation of two Financial firms
I have used the symbols A & B for each firm in the scenario below;

Company A has its FCA/PRA authorisation to conduct consumer financial business cancelled.
It then becomes a named designated agent and a trading name for company B to conduct insurance mediation on behalf of company B and this is stated on Company B’s FCA/PRA authorisation registrations with and the FCA/PRA

It is my understanding that if company B wishes to allow company A to conduct any other consumer business or associated consumer business on its behalf that;

1. There must be a written agreement between company A and company B.
2. This agreement must specify in detail exactly what these two companies have agreed to.
3. Once this agreement is signed the agreement must be submitted to the FCA/PRA, who then agree to authorise the specific details of said agreement and keep a record of this agreement.
4. Until this has been done, company A cannot conduct any other business on behalf of company B.
5. Should this then be added to the authorisation licence issued by the FCA/PRA in order the public know what company A can do?
6. Would you confirm this would not be retrospective?

Am I correct in this analysis above?

[vicky160985]

Re: Unregulated Loans Campaign

Hi Sparkie,

So so glad to be helping others along the way! I really am! Afterall when I first visited this site I didn't know what a SAR was!! I've learnt so much from the members on here and I am so grateful!

I hope you get the answers your wanting from the FCA. Its dreadful that we have to go about doing things this way (not naming firms to them if we want any help that is) but if its the only way to get anywhere, then its a must.

Reading your letter attatched in your last post that you'll be sending to them , I'm not certain but I think this fully regulated firm may have been required to apply to the FCA for a variation of their authorisation. I've just read through the page about this and the links below ....

https://www.the-fca.org.uk/firms/variation-permission

I may be way off track with it but just incase it is helpful... :-D

It points out how the firm has to wait for the FCA to agree to the new application to vary whatever it is they're wanting to vary and how if they don't wait they are breaching regulation!

Might be worth having a little look? :-D

By the way, are you emailing your letter or posting? I've used email each time for mine and they are quite good in that they do reply to you within 48 hrs!

Good luck :-)

[vicky160985]

Re: Unregulated Loans Campaign

Hi all,

To update, I posted up the reply I'd received from the FCA where I'd asked for them to define the term loan shark but they apparently have no definition of this term so refused to give a definition.

I contacted the citizens advice via email to see what they said and I've just had the reply. Again, quite informative so may be of use to others given that the info is direct from the CAB .


Dear Victoria,

*

Thank you for contacting Citizens Advice Wirral requesting assistance with your financial complaint.

*

You can find some useful information at the Money Advice Service website concerning how to make a complaint:

https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.u...t-compensation

*

Financial advisers are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and therefore provide regulated financial advice.* Regulated advisers can only recommend and sell you products that are suitable for you. If they sell you an inappropriate product or give you inappropriate advice, you can make a complaint and if necessary take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.* The website for the Financial Ombudsman is here: http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/

Some information about ‘loan sharks’ and ‘credit brokers’ can be found at the Citizens Advice website at the following links:

Loan sharks (EWSNI)
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/de...s/loan-sharks/

To lend money lawfully you have to be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).* People who lend money without being FCA authorised are breaking the law.

Credit brokers explained (EWSNI)
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/de...ers-explained/

Legitimate credit brokers are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and are listed on the Financial Services Register.* From 2 January 2015, all their communications with you should also make it clear that they are a credit broker and not a direct lender.

You may also find the factsheet about borrowing which is on the Citizens Advice Website useful:

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/Do...fact-sheet.pdf

*

I hope the above information is useful but if you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact Citizens advice Wirral again.

*

Kind Regards,

Citizens Advice

- - - Updated - - -

I'm not sure what the little stars are there for sorry. Haha

[veryannoyed]

Re: Unregulated Loans Campaign

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2...chedule/2/made

PROVISIONS COMING INTO FORCE ON 6TH APRIL 2008

Removal of financial limits etc.

Transitional requirements on dates between the legislation introduction in 2006 & the above are not at all clear at the moment, the safe bet is to view it from 2008 but we have had a Judge look at this on an unregulated loan of June 2006, the question has been put to the FCA but no clear answers yet forthcoming.

Any further update on this.

If you want a case to get your teeth into in respect of S140 then I am in court on 6th Dec.

[Sparkie1723]

Re: Unregulated Loans Campaign

Any further update on this.

If you want a case to get your teeth into in respect of S140 then I am in court on 6th Dec.

What Court is that veryannoyed?
Sparkie

[veryannoyed]

Re: Unregulated Loans Campaign

pm sent