FSA tackles mounting mortgage fraud

The
Financial
Services Authority (FSA) has released details of its plans to tackle a sharp
increase in mortgage fraud which will include targeted visits to 200 mortgage
intermediaries, including brokers, to assess their systems and controls.

The FSA also plans to increase intelligence from lenders, enhancing the way
intelligence is used, strengthening engagement with regulators, encouraging
improved information sharing and improving approved persons regimes in relation
to mortgage broking.

The regulator’s latest action follows its recent successes in identifying
mortgage brokers implicated in mortgage fraud, leading to the banning of 17
people, with one being handed a £129,000 fine for their part in mortgage fraud.

The latest
KPMG
research shows mortgage fraud contributed to the rise in the overall numbers
for the crime and between January and June, nine cases of mortgage fraud were
recorded in the courts, accounting for an estimated £20m compared with the whole
of 2007 when only 10 cases of mortgage fraud, totalling £3.7m were reported.

Further reading:

KPMG finds bank fraud cases at record high