Standard Life has appointed Mike Ambery to the position of retirement savings director. As part of the role, which has been newly created by Standard Life, Ambery will build on his experience of helping both individuals and professional audiences make sense of the savings landscape and changes in the economic and regulatory environment. He brings over 20 years’ experience in the UK pensions industry to the role, joining from Hymans Robertson where he was a partner and defined contribution (DC) consultant, leading on DC and firmwide pension proposition delivery. He also spent four years as a consultant in KPMG’s tax and pensions team, as well as a securities and investment board review technical analyst at the Co-Operative Insurance Society.

Hampshire Trust Bank (HTB) has made rate reductions across its two and five-year commercial mortgage products, with cuts of up to 50 bps. Rates now start from 6.19% for a two-year fix and 6.59% for a five-year fix. HTB’s reduced semi-commercial rates will apply to all existing ERC plus and ERC lite products, as well as fee plus, offering brokers and borrowers more options in response to affordability requirements and rate preferences. Semi-commercial loans have a minimum income-contingent repayment of 125% and maximum 75% LTV.

Pepper Money has announced that it is now able to accept e-signatures on second charge mortgage offer documents, including the mortgage deed. The launch of e-signatures will increase the speed of the mortgage process. The enhancement will give eligible customers their mortgage offer at the click of a button, reduced the time it takes for the deed to be completed and returned, expediating the release of funds. In addition, the introduction of e-signatures is set to streamline the process for brokers, removing the potential scenario of customers not returning all the necessary documentation from the offer pack or returning incomplete documents.

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