Crown Mortgage Management has been granted permission to offer advice from the FCA.

Completing its preparation for MMR, which comes into effect on 26 April 2014, it means Crown will be able to give advice to borrowers on material changes to their mortgage contracts. This includes changes to repayment methods, further advances, part or full redemptions and transfers of equity. It will also enable Crown to expand the range of services it offers to its clients and their borrowers.

Crown already has 49 staff who are CeMap qualified and further 13 who hold the equity release qualification CeRer. All formal processes and a supervisory regime are also currently in place.

Jane Manning, head of compliance at Crown Mortgage Management, said: “Crown is MMR-ready. Dealing with the FCA has been a straightforward process and indicative of their approach to assisting businesses to move into new areas so long as they are prepared, qualified and have the right systems and controls in place. We are delighted to be in a position to expand the range of services available to our clients and to continue offering a full suite of services to borrowers.”

Andrew Doyle, CEO of Crown Mortgage Management, added: “New regulation coming into place, such as the MMR, runs the risk of increasing the bureaucracy. In our case, it wasn’t difficult to embrace as we had many of the processes already in place. We are determined to offer a full range of services to the borrowers of our clients.

“Being MMR-ready and being able to offer assistance directly means borrowers will see a much more streamlined process when it comes to queries on their mortgage.”