Government to reduce broker compliance burden

Steven Cross

The coalition deregulation taskforce is looking to relax the compliance requirements placed on brokers, Senator Arthur Sinodinos has claimed.

Speaking at the inaugural FBAA conference in Sydney yesterday, the leader of the deregulation taskforce told attendees that the coalition initiative was in the process of reducing the costs and time associated with regulation and compliance.

Mr Sinodinos, who has a history in the finance industry, said the taskforce was also keen to hear broker feedback on the matter, so as to speed up the whole process and implement initiatives that are well received by the industry.

“Our job is to identify ways to reduce the cost burdens of regulation and compliance on businesses with a focus on small businesses,” he said.

“I recently spoke to a person in Brisbane and he said that, for mortgage brokers, one hour with a client results in six to seven hours of paperwork.

“I’m looking to reduce this time spent on paperwork. I think there is a way we can save brokers at least $1 billion in compliance and business costs. And, I think we can even go further than that.”

FBAA president Peter White said he was hopeful the initiative would come into play before too long as many brokers are struggling under the additional compliance paperwork.

"I think it would be great to take all the paperwork out of the process. Right now, the additional paperwork just means more work for the broker, rather than a better service for the client," he told The Adviser.