Implementing the European Mortgage Credit Directive in the UK could confuse customers without a change of approach by the FCA, the Council of Mortgage Lenders director general has warned.
Paul Smee said: “While we naturally recognise the need to comply, we believe that the UK should do so in a pragmatic way that disrupts the existing robust regulatory regime as little as possible.”
An official CML response to the FCA, which has been consulting on the implementation of MCD in the UK, warned of an absence of sufficient measures to manage the process.
The CML also claimed that fundamental changes to the sales process could confuse customers, called for the MCD to apply to new lending only and called for a more narrow definition of foreign currency loans.
The MCD aims to protect consumers in the mortgage market by introducing minimum regulatory requirements for EU members to adopt.
As part of this the UK government has proposed to transfer second charge mortgage regulation, one of the areas covered by the MCD, to the FCA in March 2016.
