| Brokers navigate new disclosure regime |
| Tuesday, 04 October 2011 00:00 |
|
Source: Broker News Mortgage and finance brokers are now coping with the newly introduced disclosure regime under NCCP, after it came into force after extended delays on October 1. Originally due to begin on 1 January this year, the implementation was pushed back due to continued negotiation between industry and Treasury. Until now, brokers were only required to disclose details of their EDR scheme, and use Finance Broking Contracts that specified any fees paid by a borrower.
Speaking with Australian BrokerNews, Kiran Saldanha of The Finance Professionals said the changes had become one of the things "causing a lot of concern" among brokers in the market. Saldanha said the main worry in regard to his own business was that "all the information we have is coming from third parties", including aggregators and other advisors such as solicitors. "Everyone is interpreting this in the best way they can. The amount of time we have as brokers to focus on these things doesn't allow us to really go into the depths of it and understand it," he said. "Even on the legal side, each solicitor has their own opinion." Saldanha said he had made a decision to rely on the systems his aggregator Connective had put in place to manage disclosure, which have been integrated into its Mercury software. "I've done that for two reasons. One, they have the most amount of time to get on top of these things, and two, because they also have credit reps, so they have to do a good job of it," he said. Saldanha said the biggest impact would come in the area of casual advice, where brokers will now have to produce pages of documentation when previously a phone call may have been all that was required. He said brokers would bear this cost, and wouldn't "earn a dollar" for meeting these requirements. Source: Broker News 4th October 2011 - www.brokernews.com.au
|
