FCA Compliance for Mortgage & Home Finance Firms

Scope is set against the firm's permissions. A typical review covers governance and the compliance monitoring programme, MCOB conduct requirements, advice and suitability controls, disclosure and financial promotions, Consumer Duty outcomes and evidence, vulnerable customer arrangements, complaints and root cause analysis, adviser and appointed representative oversight, training and competence, and regulatory reporting. Findings are prioritised by regulatory risk.

Yes. We run risk-based file testing using calibrated criteria so that results are comparable across advisers, offices and appointed representatives. Output includes individual file findings, thematic issues, an assessment of whether weaknesses are systemic and recommendations that address the cause rather than the symptom.

The recurring issues we see are suitability evidence that does not explain why the recommendation was appropriate for the customer's circumstances, inconsistent disclosure, weak documentation around execution-only and non-advised routes, insufficient consideration of vulnerability, fees and charges that are not clearly evidenced as fair value, and quality assurance that samples too narrowly to detect systemic weakness.

The Duty applies across the four outcomes and requires evidence rather than intent. For mortgage firms this typically means demonstrating that advice consistently delivers good outcomes, that fees and charges represent fair value, that communications are understood by customers rather than simply issued, that support is accessible at the point customers need it, particularly in arrears, and that outcome monitoring reaches the board in a form it can act on.

Yes. We support principal firms with pre-appointment due diligence, onboarding, ongoing monitoring and testing, financial promotions oversight, annual reviews, management information, regulatory notifications, offboarding and remediation where oversight has not kept pace with growth in the AR population.

Yes. Retained support is structured around scheduled compliance input, technical escalation, regulatory change, policy review, monitoring and board or committee reporting. It sits alongside the firm's existing team rather than replacing an internal compliance officer or senior management function.

Yes. We help firms understand what the regulator is testing, assemble and pressure-test the underlying evidence, identify weaknesses before the regulator does, draft accurate responses and implement remediation with follow-up testing to demonstrate that the fix has worked.