The Council of Mortgage Lenders, British Bankers’ Association and Payments UK have voted in favour of a trade body merger.
The respective boards have urged their members to vote for the merger, with Payments UK being the first to fully approve it after a member vote on 9 February.
The Asset Based Finance Association and UK Cards Association are also involved in the proposed merger, but their boards have not reached a decision.
Last March, former Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards was appointed to review the possibility of such a merger, and after an initial report in July, he laid out the plans in November.
The merger was first suggested following an independent review last summer, after pressure from Barclays, Clydesdale Bank & Yorkshire, Bank, Co-operative Bank, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide, RBS, Santander, TSB and Virgin Money.
The lenders wanted to review the current trade body setup in order to cut costs and avoid duplication of work.
A statement from the CML explained its members will vote on the board’s recommendation in March.
“If the recommendation is approved, the trade body landscape could look very different next year.
“But there will be no certainty about the future CML position until after both our members and the members of the other trade bodies have voted. At this stage, it is for individual members to decide what will happen.”
A spokesman for the BBA responded that its board unanimously agreed on the merger, so subject to further discussions and the approval of the wider membership, the BBA would integrate as part of a wholly new organisation as set out in the Financial Services Trade Associations Review.
A Payments UK spokesman added: “Delivering effective representation for the industry is at the heart of our organisation, so we welcome our members’ decision.”
Both the Building Societies Association and the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association have already ruled themselves out of the merger.
peter.walker@ft.com
