Financial institutions and mortgage brokers face risks related to new products and services, operational failures, and practices to meet regulatory compliance. To manage these unique risks, organizations and their representatives must apply a method to discover, monitor, measure, and handle the consumer compliance risks related to their services, products, and business operations.
One way for mortgage brokers and their institutions to manage risk and meet compliance regulations is to stick to compliance risk assessment. This usually involves identifying the current and future risks for a company's operations and evaluating the procedures to control and mitigate them. The gap between the risks and the ability to control them provides direction for management and representatives to use the most needed resources.
Compliance Risk Management in the Mortgage Industry
Compliance risk assessments look at the worst-case scenarios for mortgage companies today and understand how they can control various risks and their impact. The evaluation gives institutions and brokers a better understanding of their industry and the inherent risks within a business line, factors in processes or procedures that are in practice by the organization, and the residual risks associated with the industry.
Inherent risk is the risk of services, products, and activities if the organizations take no steps to prevent or control risks. Compliance risk management systems usually include considerations of a variety of moving parts within an organization, including:
- Organization: Staff changes, size, complexity, recent trends in compliance results, community market, formality
- Third-party resources: Oversight activities and due diligence
- Products: Activity volume, applicable recent or forecast changes
- Complaints: Process or response, evaluation to determine the effect on the organization as a whole
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Reviewing Risk Assessments Regularly
To manage risk most effectively, organizations must know where it exists the most. This helps to determine the next steps. The mortgage industry is volatile, and the regulatory environment around it is just as unpredictable. The institution's products and services need to be considered when assessing risk and the characteristics of the organization itself.
Risk management practices for the mortgage industry need to regularly review their assessments to accommodate any changes in the business and move with the regulatory environment changes.
An organization needs to ensure it has the most updated information and resources to stay within compliance. It also needs to ensure clients are getting the most honest and updated perspective of the industry to keep them informed of their services.
Mortgage institutions should review and understand any changes or enhancements to a compliance risk review. All results from compliance risk reviews should include scope, findings, corrective action, and management communication. This valuable process can help to limit exposure to risk as well as legal and financial fallout. In the long run, it's essential to stay up to date on the latest changes in the industry to stay compliant and keep clients content.
About Axis Insurance
At Axis Insurance Services, we aim to help our customers identify their exposures and protect themselves. Founded in 1999, we offer insurance programs to a wide variety of professionals and industries including attorneys, real estate, healthcare, architects, and more, and also have a wholesale division. We pride ourselves on offering flexible insurance coverage tailored specifically to each customer’s needs. To learn more about our solutions, contact us at (877) 787-5258 to speak with one of our professionals.
