Our Say

In our October edition of Better Outcomes, we provided some guidance as to what Best Interests Duty (BID) was all about and particularly focussed on who it applied to. Since publishing this, Treasury has commenced an industry consultation period...

In February this year, the Financial Sector Reform Bill passed the houses of parliament and one outcome of this was the introduction of a new Best Interest Duty placed upon Mortgage Brokers. After an initial delay, this required process...

Banks statements are currently a hot topic within the lending and Finance broking environment, especially now that ASIC have reinforced the importance of checking them in their latest update from early 2020. This update reinforces the responsibility on the...

Most of you would be aware that having and following an ASIC-compliant Dispute Resolution policy is a mandatory requirement for all Australian Credit License holders. In addition to meeting ACL obligations, we strongly believe in the benefit of implementing...

We have the pleasure of regularly liaising with dozens of small to medium business owners. We work alongside these business partners to review and assess their risks and their compliance to NCCP, Responsible Lending and general industry best-practice. We...

For many years, experts the world over have been espousing the importance of building strong relationships in business. It’s our experience, based on the testimony of our clientele, that this theory has been proven particularly true in amongst the...

Recently we were asked to assist a business partner with the development and implementation of a new Dispute Resolution process. The request was prompted by a customer complaint that unfortunately had been handled in a ‘textbook manner’ of what...

When last month’s edition of Better Outcomes was distributed, we were all starting to appreciate the gravity of Covid-19 and its potential impact upon our lives and livelihoods. Since that time, the implications have hit most of us hard,...

On Thursday 6 February, the Financial Sector Reform Bill passed both houses; after the 3rd reading. The Bill is in direct response to some of Commission Hayne’s recommendations re: The Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and...

Our monthly updates usually include commentary on industry or regulatory updates and when looking at ASIC’s published calendar for 2020, we’re certain to be sharing more such views in coming months. However, as we start this year, we thought...

Updated RG209: our take On Monday this week, ASIC published the long-awaited update to RG209: Responsible Lending Conduct. We’ve reviewed it and wanted to share our initial thoughts below On the whole, it is a much clearer document with...

In February this year, we published an article on our website which was critical of the Royal Commissioner’s findings which failed to recognise the general lack of clarity and direction within the National Consumer Protection Act and in particular,...

A few weeks ago, the ASIC Chair (Mr James Shipton) addressed a parliamentary joint committee on Corporations and Financial Services. During his address, he spoke of ASIC’s intent to be a “strategic and agile regulator, developing and using regulatory...

Late last month ASIC released Report 628, titled ‘Looking for a Mortgage: Consumer experiences and expectations in getting a home loan’. In it they concluded that brokers must better communicate to customers how the home loan options presented were selected...

We recently had the pleasure of sitting down with the owner of a medium sized Finance Brokerage to discuss current performance, plus his short- and longer-term objectives for the business.  We did the same the next day with the...

There has been some encouraging movement within the intermediated finance market of late. We’re certainly not booming, but Analysts report signs of a ‘bounce’ from the pre-election lull. We’ve seen most lenders reduce interest rates, consumer confidence has strengthened...

ASIC and Bank Statements Banks statements, you may have used them from time to time to verify income that wasn’t verifiable by usual means; but have you also used them to verify the customer’s declared living expenses and to...

One of our most popular client services is the provision of ongoing retained compliance support to ACL holders. This involves regular file audits, monitoring of credit rep actions, provision of a NCCP compliance help desk facility and the co-ordination...

We are lucky enough to work with many finance brokers across Australia, including reviewing their operational set-ups, systems and credit assistance procedures.  There are a few commonalities for the most successful brokers and one that really jumps out to us...

This month we ‘go back to basics’ and discuss the regulatory requirements mandated in the NCCP Act in regard to Disclosure Documents and the provision of credit assistance. We are regularly surprised by the confusion out there amongst Finance...

It’s certainly been a huge few weeks for those involved in the financial services industry! Since Commissioner Hayne released his final report into Misconduct in Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services, commentary on potential implications has dominated media channels. In our...

Last week an interesting article was posted online by The Adviser (see below for link to the full article).  The article refers to a recent survey conducted by real estate and finance marketing consultancy ‘101 Things’, where 93% of brokers surveyed stated that they were...

You asked for it! In last month’s edition of ‘Better Outcomes’ we shared the 10 most commonly asked questions of us by Finance Brokers, Aggregators and Lenders.  There is so much unnecessary confusion around NCCP and Responsible Lending guidelines and one of our...

Speaking at last Friday’s (16/11) FBAA national industry conference, Mr Boyd Honor – ASIC Senior Manager – commented that the regulator was in favour of introducing an additional ‘best interests’ duty for brokers.    He went on to recommend that...

We’ve been operating SalesKey since February this year and over the past 9 months have met with dozens of brokers, aggregators and lenders.  We’ve also been privileged to work alongside a number of savvy Brokers to conduct business and...

On September 28, Commissioner Hayne released his Interim Report on Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry.  Pages 19 to 72 are dedicated to Consumer Lending and the conduct of participants. In his report, Commissioner Hayne is...

A common point of contention for many Finance Brokers relates to Living Expenses and what to use or accept during the credit assistance process.     We certainly understand this confusion given we operate within a guideline-based framework, however at SalesKey we take the following view…   Firstly, we wish to point out ASIC’s stance is clearly documented in RG209 (s.30); where they state “the obligation to make...