Specialist Mortgage Services (SMS), a subsidiary of HML, has received Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) approval for its acquisition of Topaz Finance Limited (Topaz) from the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Topaz is the master servicer for approximately £700 million of residential mortgages held in the Uropa Series I and Series II securitisations.

Andrew Freeley, managing director of SMS and proposition director at HML, said: “We are delighted that the FCA has approved the purchase of Topaz. The acquisition of Topaz supports our strategy, giving us further scale and enhanced capability in mortgage portfolio management.

“With HML being the clear market leader in mortgage servicing, the ability to deliver the most advanced end-to-end mortgage management solution in the market sets us apart from our competitors.

“The commitment by Computershare to grow the loan servicing business is significant and the acquisition by SMS of Topaz is an important part of this strategy. Now we have FCA approval, we can progress our plans to grow our business and support asset traders and other investors in their mortgage portfolio acquisition strategies.”