Apology and compensation after FSA fines lender £1m
THE North West lender fined more than £1m and reprimanded by the Financial Services Authority for weak internal systems and poor treatment of customers, has apologised and says it has put its house in order.
Cheadle-based Cheshire Mortgage Corporation, part of Jerrold Holdings, a private-equity backed lender, must compensate thousands of customers up to £2m and also change its senior management after the FSA’s tough action.
The company, which is the sixth to be targeted by the FSA, said the issues pre-date 2009 after whuich time it had undertaken a comprehensive review of its procedures and corporate governance standards.
In a statement the company made a “sincere apology” and said it is working with around 2,000 customers to remedy the situation “in a timely fashion”.
Jerrold Holdings founder, Henry Moser, who has agreed to stand down as chief executive of Cheshire Mortgage Corp, will not be relinquishing his position with the wider group.
The company said: “CMCL’s CEO, Henry Moser, fully cooperated with the FSA investigation and has accepted its findings. The FSA recognised his personal commitment over the past four years to CMCL’s process of improvement. Having led the company through this period, Mr Moser now has decided, with the support of the board, to step down as CEO of CMCL within the next three to six months.
“He will take up the position of non executive director, where he will continue to help drive organisational change, ensuring that high regulatory standards continue to be maintained. Henry Moser continues as chief executive of the overall group where his leadership, experience and expertise will focus on further developing the business.”
The statement added: “Since 2008 we have made significant changes to our policies to ensure that they comprehensively adhere to regulatory and market standards and have received independent assurance that this is the case.
“In addition we have also introduced a robust governance structure aligned to current best practice while making a number of senior appointments to further strengthen the management team.”
