MAS Diamond’s Honisterly: all a waste of time

 I am going to start with three big whinges this month as I need to get them off my chest.

MAS – Money Advice Service set up by the government to provide financial advice to consumers. Really ? Isn’t that what all our great mortgage brokers and IFAs do?

It is a complete waste of time and the latest twist of events if that the chief exec has quit in what looks like a reaction to his overblown salary of £350k being publicly criticised.

Someone in government needs to get a grip and close this organisation down as it isn’t needed. After all the cost of running it is £87m per year and paid for by genuinely good broker firms through their FSA levy.

Bob Diamond and the LIE-BOR rigging. Talk about one man got bigger than his boots. People in any position in financial services should act with total integrity from a newly qualified mortgage advisor up to a chief executive of a global bank. Simple.

Diamond didn’t and I suspect he will be one of a long line who didn’t. They are a waste of time in financial services in the UK and all of them should go. Let’s get back to good honest integrity in banking.

Last but not least Honister which shut its doors leaving around 900 financial advisors being unable to transact and more importantly leaving clients being unable to complete on mortgages etc.

Honister  was always was an odd firm in the way it behaved but not being able to get PI cover seems to be a huge excuse for other things.

Why couldn’t they pay for PI for a short period to enable their advisers to move to another network and continue to service their clients in a seamless way?

Shame on those at the head of Honister and if this the way they behave then they are a waste of time in this industry and should go elsewhere.

Ok - whinge over with.

At the British Mortgage Awards this month the great and good of our industry were honoured and no doubt the biggest applause of the night was not for the comedian Jo Brand (she was very good) but the deserved winner of Lifetime Achievement – Phillip Cartwright of London & Country… well done.

Jonathon Cornell has now finished his probation period at the FSA. Does that mean he didn’t get a custodial sentence to service at the FSA’s pleasure?

Rumour has it there will be a few acquisitions in the coming months with the likes of J C Flowers (owner of Kent Reliance) on the prowl and I wouldn’t be surprised if Mortgage Advice Bureau, Countrywide and LSL are keeping their bank balances ready for the right opportunity.