HSBC has announced it will quit the U.K.'s Council of Mortgage Lenders and has given the mortgage body a one year's notice. The bank's move comes ahead of the industry vote on merging a number of lender trade bodies.
A spokesperson for HSBC said, "Given the anticipated creation of a new financial services trade association, we have given one year's notice to the Council of Mortgage Lenders and our membership will end on 31 December 2016."
The proposal, which Financial Times reported was brought up late last year, would see the consolidation of the CML, the British Bankers' Association, Payments UK, the UK Cards Association and the Asset Based Finance Association. MortgageStrategy.co.uk said the members of the CML will vote this first quarter. Building Societies Association and the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association have already excluded themselves from the merger since the proposal came out in November.
"HSBC supports the creation of a new trade association which will better serve all providers in the financial services sector and most importantly, our customers. We have and continue to value our work with the CML and believe a strong mortgage voice is critical within any new association," HSBC spokesperson further said.
According to Financial Times, HSBC's decision to leave the CML could be part of its ongoing review and pending decision about its home location, as well as its efforts to cut costs. In 1993, HSBC moved to the U.K. from Hong Kong.
The CML represents about 95 percent of lenders in the country. Whether its members will stay or follow HSBC's lead would remain to be seen when they cast their votes in March.
"In terms of individual members' future intentions regarding trade bodies, that would be a matter for individual firms to discuss, rather than us," a spokesperson for the CML said, as reported by MortgageStrategy.co.uk.