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Lender Transparency: Are All Brokers Created Equally?

Journalist: Riz Malik

ended 03. January 2024

HSBC revealed this morning that it intends to reprice a number of its products with new rates set to be introduced on Thursday, January 4th. Yet, despite this information not being officially relayed to the broker market, various media outlets are already reporting the details of these rates. In response, we posed several questions to Newspagers:

  • Should certain groups receive product information before others?
  • Who determines the criteria for who receives product information before others?
  • Why don't financial institutions maintain transparency and apply uniform rules for everyone?

Your views are welcome.

9 responses from the Newspage community

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Justin Moy
Managing Director at EHF Mortgages
There is not a lot more insulting in our industry than finding important information about rate changes is held back from the majority of brokers for the benefit of a small minority of 'preferred' partners, so that they can steal some benefit within the market. As with the majority of lenders, new product details should be communicated to all brokers at the same time, so we can advise our clients (who are the ultimate beneficiaries). Assuming rates have been approved for launch, why not just put details in the email, rather than mark every deal as 'Decreasing' and then create a black market of information?
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Elliott Benson
Owner at Sett Mortgages
Let the brokers know first so we can prepare and pass on good news to clients. Why are we finding out after the fact? Clients then see this and automatically assume we have either missed it or haven't been taking due care with their case.
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Riz Malik
Independent Financial Adviser at R3 Wealth
If a lender does not disclose new rates when announcing they are repricing, they should apply that rule to everyone so we have the same information at the same time. It should not be one rule for some and another for others.
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Stephen Perkins
Managing Director at Yellow Brick Mortgages
Never understood why lenders announce rate changes are coming but then delay the announcement of the new rates. It’s not like the special spices recipe, and it then unfairly leaks out places. Just announce the change and the rates at once to all.
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Craig Fish
Director at Lodestone Mortgages
Surely in this day and age it’s a simple enough task to send an email to everyone at the same time advising all of what rates you intend to offer. What really is the point in advising some brokers and not others? After all the products are available to all at the same time. Consumer duty should have put an end to this sort of behaviour.
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Peter Stokes
Director of Mortgages at Davidson Deem
In all honesty, if HSBC confirms their rates are going down, then why not tell us to what level? Some lenders are guilty of just saying they are changing tomorrow, so you don't know if that is up or down, let alone what the rate is.
If HSBC is confirming actual rates to a source, then I see no reason at all why they can't make this information more accessible to the broker market, rather than just teasing us with saying they are going down.
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Alastair Hoyne
CEO, Finanze Capital at Finanze Capital
It’s up to lenders, and in particular their respective Business Development Managers, to relay product information to brokers. This should be relatively easy using email, but we’ve found it mainly applies only with lenders with whom we have developed a close working relationship. As some lenders offer products direct to customers, you might ask why they would want to give away fees and commissions if they can get a direct sale. Is this a specific tactic? Possibly, but brokers are an essential bridge to highly qualified and well advised borrowers, so it makes sense to keep us in the loop. We can get to the market quickly, and speed as well as competitive advantage is key to closing good deals.
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Scott Taylor-Barr
Principal Adviser at Barnsdale Financial Management
It would make a lot more sense and surely be easier for the lenders themselves if all market participants were informed at the same time, which also avoids any frustrating information leaks by one source announcing the information before they are supposed to. The only caveat I would place on that would be sourcing systems; for obvious reasons, it would be advantageous for them to know of the changes as soon as possible, even if that is before an announcement to the market as a whole, to allow them time to ensure that the correct information will appear when brokers research mortgage deals.
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Charles Breen
Founder at C B
I left teaching because I found it very clicky, and if you werent mates with the right people you were left out and you wouldnt progress, I thought mortgages would be different, but how wrong was I!
Its incredibly clicky, networks have their favourites, lenders have their favourite networks and it just goes on and on, its blatantly not a level and fair playing field and the big players have it all sown up, they have all the contacts and are given preferential treatment at every turn, this drip feeding them of information early ( stinks of possible insider information, I would be interested to see the FCA look at it from that point of view) gives them an unfair advantage!