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The majority of brokers agree that the decision to delay broker legislation was the right one, according to a recent straw poll.
Earlier this month, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) decided to push back the start date for the registration and licensing of brokers by six months.
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Originally scheduled for 1 November, brokers will not be able to apply for an Australian Credit Licence until 1 April next year.
While the decision was disappointing for those brokers that were eagerly awaiting the implementation of the new regime, the majority believe it is the right thing to do, according to the results of a recent Mortgage Business straw poll.
Of the 460 respondents, 65.9 per cent believed delaying the licensing regime was the right decision by the ACCC while 28.9 per cent thought it was the wrong thing to do; 5.2 per cent were unsure.
Bernie Sutton of the Mortgage Guys told Mortgage Business that delaying the legislation was the right decision because none of the legal requirements had been identified.
“The industry does not even know what these laws will bring, so I believe it was premature for the government to put a timeframe on registration when the ramifications of the legislation is not clear,” he said.
“The legislation needs to be implemented in stages; it needs to be progressive so that the industry can be abreast of the changes ahead of time. This legislation has the potential to bring the industry to a halt, forcing brokers that are not up to speed with all the requirements out of mortgage broking.”
Early last month, the MFAA took a hard line with brokers that had failed to complete their Certificate IV in Financial Services, terminating 1,500 memberships.
At the same time, Mortgage Business found that one third of brokers were not ready for the new legislation.
