Die britische Finanzaufsichtsbehörde, in persona Clive Briault, head of retail markets der FSA, warnt anläßlich des Council of Mortgage Lenders Seventh Annual Conference am 4 December 2007 im kommenden Jahr vor „schweren Zeiten“.

“It would be prudent to assume that market conditions will remain very difficult for a sustained period. … there is a very real prospect that conditions will worsen further.

From our Product Sales Data, we know that at least 1.4 million short-term fixed rates will end in 2008. Many of these borrowers are on relatively high loan-to-value ratios or income multiples and will find it difficult (if not impossible) to refinance their mortgage on favourable terms, which will leave them facing a significantly higher interest rate on their borrowings, which may prove too much for many of them to afford. Moreover, sub-prime borrowers may not have access to the market at any price, at least until the normal market mechanism of risk-adjusted pricing returns.”

In der City heißt es, die FSA statte den Hypothekenbanken wöchentlich Besuche ab, um sich ihrer Liquidität zu versichern. Die FSA erwartet, daß die Institute härtere Stresstests inklusive einem Sturm auf die Bank durchspielen und für den Fall vorbereitet sind, Notkredite bei der Bank of England in Anspruch nehmen zu müssen.

The Risk Outlook for Mortgage Lenders

Helmut Wüllenweber