The Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI) has welcomed the Treasury’s response to last year’s consultation over the implementation of the EU mortgage directive.

The trade body said today’s announcement indicates that the Treasury has a “genuine desire” is to minimise the impact on firms and consumers.

“AMI is delighted that Treasury has listened to the voice of the broker and made changes to take brokers out of the scope of the consumer credit regime for unregulated buy-to-let loans,” said Robert Sinclair, chief executive of AMI. “In addition the clarification on what comprises regulated consumer buy-to-let is positive.

“AMI was concerned that the directive risked an interpretation that regulatory responsibilities lay at an individual level for credit intermediaries and appointed representatives. It has been clarified that all references remain applicable to firms and their principles, rather than moving down to individual brokers. The Treasury has also ensured that introducer representatives are not to be fully captured under the consumer credit regime.

“There will still be huge challenges for FCA, lenders and brokers in ensuring as seamless a transition as possible, due to the tight timescales involved, but AMI is committed to working with the wider industry to ensure consumers are impacted as little as possible. We await the FCA policy statement and final rules with interest.”