Mortgage and protection network Stonebridge has agreed to sell national property services Shepherd Direct a minority stake in the independently-owned business.

Some 97% of the £943m in fines collected by the financial regulator between 2010 and 2013 came from settlements, according to research from law firm Freshfields.

Another five new or returning mortgage lenders will launch into the intermediary market this year alone excluding the Bank of Ireland, predicted Legal & General Mortgage Club bosses.

A hike in the base rate of as little as 0.25% would have a much greater impact on the disposable incomes of highly indebted consumers, potentially threatening the UK's recovery, Neil Woodford has said.

Just 18 individuals were fined by the regulator for misconduct, breaches of the rules or failures in their duties in 2013, a fall of 40% from 30 three years' before.

The Financial Conduct Authority will not begin testing firms' Mortgage Market Review processes until later in the year to allow for a "period of adjustment" while lenders and brokers get used to the new regime.

The SimplyBiz Group has launched a Protection Academy for its members to improve their knowledge and understanding of the protection market.

Later Life Academy (LLA), the just launched commercial and training organisation for later life advisers, has partnered with equity release legal specialists Equilaw.

The UK's new National Crime Agency (NCA) launched today in an effort to co-ordinate the nation's efforts to tackle high-level crime within a single agency.

Measures to cut fraud saved the taxpayer £6.5bn last year, the government has said.