FCA GUIDANCE ON SUPPORT FOR MORTGAGE BORROWERS

The Financial Conduct Authority has today published additional guidance for firms which will come into force on 16 September 2020, confirming the support mortgage borrowers will receive if they continue to face payment difficulties due to coronavirus. Firms will offer further short and long-term support, depending on their customers? needs. This support could take the form of extending mortgage repayment terms or restructuring of the mortgage itself. For consumers requiring further short-term support, firms can continue to offer payment deferrals for a specified period.

Eric Leenders, Managing Director of Personal Finance at UK Finance, said:

?The banking and finance industry is committed to providing ongoing support to those facing financial difficulty as part of our clear plan to get the country through this crisis.

?Lenders understand that many households will continue to see their finances squeezed as the pandemic continues and will be offering a range of support for those who need it. It is essential that customers go online or contact their lender to consider the best solution for them.

?Firms will be communicating with customers whose mortgage payment deferral is coming to an end to discuss the options available. Those who can afford to resume payments should do so, as it will always be in their best interests in the long run.?

FCA GUIDANCE ON BANK BRANCH CLOSURES AND ACCESS TO CASH

The FCA has also finalised its guidance for firms on maintaining access to cash for customers. In the guidance, the FCA says banks, building societies and credit unions are expected to keep the FCA informed of any plans for closures or conversions in good time before any final decision is made. Moreover, the FCA will expect firms to offer analysis of the needs of customers currently using the bank branches, the proposals? impact on these customers, and reasonable alternatives for customers if the proposals are implemented.

UK Finance said the guidance provided further clarity, commenting:

?Branches and ATMs play an important role in the life of local communities and decisions to close them are never taken lightly.

?The Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) finalised guidance builds on the existing processes that many firms already follow in assessing the impact of a proposed closure and the development of suitable alternative service options.

?We will now work closely with our members, the FCA, the Payment Systems Regulator, LINK and the Lending Standards Board to implement this guidance and ensure that access to cash remains free and widely accessible to those who need it.?

NEWS IN BRIEF

Writing in The Times (£, p2), former attorney-general Geoffrey Cox has said the government's UK Internal Market Bill risks ?unconscionable? damage to Britain's international reputation by revising the EU Withdrawal Agreement.

Director-general of the CBI Carolyn Fairbairn has called on the government to deliver more green jobs to help the economy recover from Covid-19 and establish the UK as a global leader in tackling the climate crisis (The Guardian, p27).

Figures obtained by the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) following a Freedom of Information request found that British employers are planning over twice as many redundancies as they did at the height of the last recession, with completed redundancies likely to reach 735,000 this autumn (BBC News).

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is reportedly considering multi-billion pound tax cuts for UK businesses on capital investments, such as machinery. The plans would aim to stimulate economic activity and boost the government's ?levelling up? agenda (City AM).

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