FSMA Kredietbemiddeling common mistakes
FSMA Kredietbemiddeling · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Treating FSMA registration as a formality and confusing the status of the intermediary (agent vs. broker vs. tied agent) with the lender's own authorisation, then answering questions about who is responsible for what as if the lender's licence covers the intermediary.
Candidates skim the registration chapter and assume 'registered by the FSMA' equals 'authorised to sell any credit'; they never build a mental map of the distinct capacity categories and the obligations attached to each.
What to do instead
Build a one-page comparison table: for each capacity (credit intermediary, tied agent, agent of a credit intermediary, lender) list who must register, what activity is permitted, who supervises, and who bears liability. Rehearse with scenario stems where the same person acts in two capacities.
Answering that the FSMA grants the licence itself, rather than recognising that the FSMA maintains the register and supervises conduct while the authorisation to operate as a credit intermediary flows from registration and the applicable consumer credit rules.
Institutional overlap between FSMA, the National Bank, and EU-level rules is genuinely confusing, so candidates default to the most familiar regulator for every question.
What to do instead
Write out, from memory, the specific supervisory role of the FSMA for credit intermediaries (access conditions, register, conduct supervision, sanctions) and contrast it with prudential supervision of lenders. Test yourself on 'who does what' prompts until the split is automatic.
Classifying a credit agreement by its marketing label (e.g. 'buy now pay later', 'promo loan', 'flexi') instead of by the legal criteria such as amount, duration, purpose, and whether credit is granted by a professional lender.
Real-world product names are memorable and candidates reuse them as shortcuts, ignoring that the same label can sit in different legal categories depending on the terms.
What to do instead
Practise classification using only the legal criteria: amount band, duration, purpose (consumer good vs. mortgage vs. overdraft), and the identity of the creditor. For each product name you know, write the underlying criteria so the label stops driving the answer.
Mixing up the pre-contractual information document with the credit agreement itself, and stating that the standardised information sheet is signed and binding or that the agreement may be concluded without it.
Both documents contain overlapping figures (TAEG, instalments, total cost), so candidates treat them as interchangeable and forget the timing and evidentiary function of the pre-contractual document.
What to do instead
Memorise the sequence: information before conclusion, on the prescribed form, so the consumer can compare offers; the agreement comes later and must reflect that information. Draw a timeline and place each document on it, including what happens if the creditor changes the terms afterwards.
Computing or explaining the TAEG by simply adding fees to the nominal rate, or omitting costs such as file fees, insurance that is a condition of the credit, or valuation costs from the calculation.
Candidates rely on arithmetic intuition instead of the prescribed actuarial method, and they do not know which costs must be included versus which are optional and excluded.
What to do instead
Learn the rule that the TAEG reflects the total cost of credit as an annualised rate on the basis of the agreed schedule, and list which charges enter the calculation. Work through two or three numeric examples by hand, including one with an optional insurance the consumer declines.
Giving advice as if it were mere information: presenting a single 'best' product to a consumer without assessing needs and circumstances, and without documenting why the recommendation is suitable.
The information/advice distinction is subtle and the two activities look identical in a branch conversation, so candidates answer conduct questions with a generic 'explain the product clearly' instead of the advice standard.
What to do instead
Define both terms precisely and contrast them: information is neutral and comparable, advice is a personalised recommendation requiring a needs assessment and a documented justification. For each scenario, decide which one is being given and name the extra obligations triggered by advice.
Ignoring the advertising rules: quoting an interest rate or a monthly instalment in a commercial message without the required accompanying standard information, or presenting a promotional rate as if it were the permanent rate.
Candidates read advertising questions as marketing common sense and forget that any credit offer in a commercial communication triggers mandatory disclosures whenever a figure is used to attract consumers.
What to do instead
Learn the trigger rule: once a rate or cost figure appears, the message must carry the prescribed standard information (TAEG via a representative example, amount, duration, total cost, and the warning about consequences of default where required). Rewrite one non-compliant slogan into a compliant version as practice.
Failing to spot fraud indicators in credit offers: demanding an upfront fee before any credit is granted, using only a mobile number or free webmail, promising credit regardless of income or blacklist status, or pressuring for an immediate decision.
Candidates evaluate offers on plausibility and price rather than on the structural red flags that distinguish fraud, so they miss the classic advance-fee pattern.
What to do instead
Memorise a checklist of red flags (advance payment, no registered identity or address, no FSMA registration number, unrealistic approval promises, urgency, requests for identity documents before any agreement). Apply the checklist to short written scenarios and identify the decisive indicator in each.
Overlooking the consumer's rights after conclusion: forgetting the withdrawal period, the right to early repayment with a possible reduction in total cost, and the rules on default interest and termination.
Study time concentrates on the sales phase, so post-contract remedies are learned as isolated facts that candidates cannot apply to a timeline.
What to do instead
Build a post-contract timeline covering withdrawal, early repayment, arrears handling and termination, and note the conditions and cost consequences of each. Answer scenario questions by locating the event on the timeline before choosing the rule.
Assuming a registration covers all credit activities and all locations, so the candidate answers that a registered intermediary may freely sell mortgage credit, consumer credit and crowdlending without additional conditions or without checking the scope of the registration.
The word 'registered' reads as a global green light, and candidates do not distinguish the scope of the entry in the register from the scope of permitted activities.
What to do instead
Treat the register entry as scope-limited: check what is registered, for which category of credit, and whether the person acts as intermediary, agent or tied agent. Practise with stems where a registered intermediary offers a product outside the registered scope and identify the breach.