Britain’s building societies could be forced to conduct individual investigations into their mortgage books to prove they do not have financial “black holes” in the wake of the alleged £41m fraud that rocked Chelsea Building Society last week, according to the Sunday Telegraph.
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is considering asking each building society to conduct a health check, particularly of buy-to-let businesses, according to a well- placed source.
The Serious Fraud Office and the police are already investigating buy-to-let rackets all over the country.
Adrian Coles, director general of the Building Societies Association told the Sunday Telegraph: “There is no indication that fraud is a widespread problem in the mortgage market, but Chelsea could be a wake-up call to other building societies to be vigilant and check their books, especially in the buy-to-let space.”
The Sunday Telegraph 23/08/09 page 2
