Mortgage brokers will be in the spotlight in the commission’s first round of hearings
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It appears that despite the royal commission’s announcement that brokers will be in the spotlight in its first round of hearings from 13 to 23 March for alleged fraudulent practices, brokers need not worry that they’re losing consumer confidence.
Round one!
The commission's first hearing includes the case of the National Australia Bank's (NAB) Introducer Program and fraudulent loan applications.
NAB's Introducer Program's reputation took a serious hit when one of its former mobile bankers, Andrew Matthews, was charged last year with falsifying home loan documents and attempting to defraud the bank. The disgrace of the celebrated banker, however, did little to damage the credibility of the entire mortgage industry.
The latest broker market-share data by the Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) reveals a strong affirmation of the service and solutions brokers provide to consumers to continually strengthen the industry's reputation.
The figures speak for themselves
An MFAA media release yesterday reflected a statistic report showing that Australian finance brokers settled $52.24 billion in residential home loans in the quarter to December 2017, and the latest home loan market share figure of 53.6% is 1.7% is higher than the December 2016 quarter. Last year, Australia’s finance broker channel settled just under $200 billion in residential loans.
"This is a great result for brokers and is particularly important as it follows a period of increased external scrutiny of the industry and the introduction of a number of prudential measures, which may have had a negative impact on the broker channel," MFFAA CEO, Mike Felton said. "Brokers are constantly adapting to meet the changes ahead with the single focus of continuing to provide an excellent and personal service that meets the customer's needs."
