LICENSED Conveyancers should be given equal opportunities to work on lenders
panels as solicitors, the CLC has today said.
Following a decision by HSBC to allow members of the Law Society CQS scheme
onto its lenders panel, the CLC is keen to see its licensees offered the same
opportunity.
“We have said it before, and we will say it again, regulation by the CLC is a trusted
badge of quality,” said Chief Executive June Mulroy.
“The low levels of mortgage fraud amongst our licence holders are unrivalled
elsewhere in the industry and our regulation is recognised as being tough, fair and
proportionate.
“There are already a number of CLC regulated firms on the HSBC panel, and by
including them, HSBC has recognised the strength of our regulation and now is the
time to extend that recognition to all CLC regulated firms.”
At the start of 2012, the focus of the HSBC panel was on its small number of
members.
By now opening it up to more than 1,400 CQS registered firms and vastly increasing
its size, the argument for HSBC to restrict membership has been weakened.
In February of this year, the CLC welcomed the decision to include four of our
members on the HSBC panel, a move which recognised that the strength of our
regulation is such that further quality assurance is not necessary for our licence
holders.
The time has now come to extend membership of this, and other panels, to all those
regulated by the CLC.
Ms Mulroy added: “As a regulator, we are here to assist with promoting competition
in the industry and to protect consumer choice. Any move which appears to be to the
detriment of either of those things should be challenged.
“We will be taking appropriate steps to ensure our licence holders are allowed to
compete on a fair basis with others in the industry.”
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