Equity Release Council begin selection for Standards Board

The Council is looking for representatives from existing members for posts on the:

- Standards Board

- Customer Protection Working Group

- Long-term Care Working Group

- Public Relations and Public Affairs Working Group

The Standards Board will be responsible for implementing the standards and consumer safeguards integral to the organisation, and the working groups will focus on relevant issues in this market to determine how the Council should tackle them.  Going forward, other working groups will be formed as issues arise.

Members of the board and the groups will be selected from organisations who are full members of the Equity Release Council or have applied for membership by the end of October 2012.  The selection process will be led by the Chairman (Nigel Waterson), Director General (Andrea Rozario) and Chair of the Standards Board (Chris Pond) who will work to ensure these groups are representative of the new membership.

Nigel Waterson, Chairman of The Equity Release Council, comments:

“In June, we launched The Council and opened up membership to advisers, solicitors, surveyors, and other interested parties.  Therefore, these nominations give us the first opportunity to develop a Standards Board and Working Groups which are truly representative of The Equity Release Council as a whole.  We look forward to working together to develop a robust and successful strategy to make sure that equity release continues to be a key part of the retirement planning market.”

Director General of The Equity Release Council, Andrea Rozario, continues:

“We’ve had real success in growing our membership but know that there are still a significant number of organisations who could benefit from involvement in helping to develop the strategy for the coming year.  Only those who are members or who have applied by the end of October will be eligible so we call on those who are considering their options to make a decision and join us in developing the market further."