Hai Money’s sub-aggregation agreement with Finsure has been terminated after concerns were raised by lenders about broker compliance among some of its members.
Major aggregator Finsure has confirmed that it has terminated its sub-aggregation agreement with Hai Money, with the termination taking effect from last week.
The sub-aggregator, which launched in 2024, had been brought under scrutiny after several brokers were flagged by lenders as having potentially breached compliance rules and engaged in misconduct.
Hai Money had already terminated 14 brokers from its network in December 2025 after National Australia Bank (NAB), one of its panel lenders, suspended their accreditation following concerns about their conduct. It is believed that the concerns relate to alleged mortgage fraud, which has so far resulted in charges being brought against a solicitor and an accountant, with investigations currently being conducted into brokers operating under major aggregators LMG and Finsure.
While an independent report commissioned by Finsure into Hai Money’s compliance processes reportedly found “no evidence of systemic broker misconduct across the broader network” in April, Finsure has now terminated its agreement with Hai Money.
More than 200 mortgage brokers were operating under Hai Money’s licence at the time of the termination.
In a statement to The Adviser, a Finsure spokesperson commented: “Following concerns by several banks, including major lenders, we felt it best our two organisations go our separate ways. As you can imagine, it wasn’t a decision we entered into lightly.
“One thing we can say for certain is we are committed to being of assistance during the transition period. Not least of which, we will continue to pass on the commissions from lenders to Hai Money, for their team to distribute to their brokers.”
Hai Money looking at ‘legal avenues’
Hai Money founder Bruce Li said he was extremely disappointed by the decision and was considering legal action.
He told The Adviser: “We strongly disagree that Hai Money should bear responsibility for the current situation.”
“Over the past several months, we have taken significant steps to address concerns, including appointing a new CEO, strengthening governance, and conducting to an independent PwC review, which did not identify systemic broker conduct issues.”
“Despite these efforts, Finsure has proceeded with a unilateral termination that we consider disproportionate and commercially damaging – not only to Hai Money, but to more than 200 brokers and their clients.”
He continued: “Hai Money is currently reviewing all available options, including legal avenues, in response to this decision.”
“Our priority remains protecting our brokers and ensuring their pipeline deals and commissions are handled appropriately. We remain open to constructive discussions to resolve this matter in a fair and balanced way,” Li said.
The outgoing CEO of the Finance Brokers Association of Australia (FBAA), Peter White AM, has asked banks to support innocent Hai Money brokers who have been caught up in the fray.
He said there were Hai Money brokers who have done nothing wrong and should be "treated as innocent until proven guilty", noting that around 211 Hai Money brokers are now scrambling to find a new aggregator so that they can continue to operate their businesses.
“The FBAA has received calls from brokers who haven’t even written their first loan, and have lost their accreditation, and others who are distressed that there has been a blanket decision against all Hai Money brokers,” White said.
While the FBAA interim CEO endorsed the crackdown on fraudulent activities – stating that anyone found to have been involved in fraud should be banned and prosecuted - he said the current situation was “fluid and messy”.
“The industry has to go hard on those who are tarnishing our reputation, and there can be no compromise,” he said.
However, he added that the ongoing investigations into mortgage fraud were “not about brokers from any one company or demographic, but about those, wherever they are and whoever they work with, engaged in sophisticated criminal activity”.
“We can’t tar everyone with the same brush, and we must shine a light in the darkness and support those who have done nothing wrong and are running legitimate, honest businesses,” White said.
The outgoing FBAA CEO said he understands the complexity and the difficult role lenders and aggregators have in working out who is involved in the fraud, and asked them to do their due diligence to ensure those not involved were supported.
Mortgage fraud investigations continue
The Hai Money termination comes amid an ongoing investigation into multi-million-dollar home loan fraud, which has allegedly affected multiple lenders - including major banks - and is being investigated by police, regulators and across the wider industry.
It is understood that the main issues come from those allegedly obtained loans from major financial institutions by setting up shell companies and submitting false documentation, in some cases created or enhanced using AI.
The alleged conduct has sharpened the focus on so‑called ‘professional facilitators’ – accountants, lawyers, and other advisers who can lend credibility to fraudulent applications.
The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) confirmed to The Adviser that it was currently working with major banks, law enforcement, and other regulators to map how far sophisticated loan fraud had spread and warned of increasingly complex schemes that exploit both technology and intermediaries.
The Fintel Alliance public‑private partnership brings together AUSTRAC, the top 10 lenders, federal agencies, and major payments and gaming companies to pool intelligence on emerging risks.
AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas recently told The Adviser that the financial intelligence agency was assessing the breadth of the problem and noted emerging typologies where criminals use doctored or AI‑generated documents to wash profits from offences such as drug trafficking and human exploitation into home loans.
The alleged use of fake income documents and referrer‑driven business has revived longstanding concerns about bank distribution models, particularly introducer and referral programs.
“Through our public-private-partnership, Fintel Alliance, AUSTRAC is engaging with law enforcement, government partners, and the 10 banks that constitute Australia’s top lenders, with data sharing underway to build a clear intelligence picture of mortgage fraud risk,” Thomas said.
He said that the alliance was already sharing loan data to detect patterns that individual institutions could have potentially overlooked.
AUSTRAC noted that its review was zeroing in on the way falsified income documents, synthetic identities, and professional facilitators had allegedly been used to wash criminal proceeds through residential property.
“Our priority is understanding the scale and sophistication of mortgage fraud, including the possible use of false documents, synthetic identities and professional facilitators, which can allow criminal funds to be embedded in high-value assets like property,” Thomas said.
He also framed the mortgage scandal as evidence that gaps in the anti‑money‑laundering and counter‑terrorism‑financing (AML/CTF) regime needed to be closed, including around gatekeeper professions that help prepare loan applications.
“This issue underscores why Australia is strengthening its AML/CTF framework to close long-standing gaps that criminals have been able to exploit,” Thomas said.
In response to rising misconduct among a segment of the 22,000 active Australian brokers, aggregation group Finsure recently raised entry standards by requiring new members to have two years of relevant experience or complete an academy program, while simultaneously deploying an AI monitoring tool named Sentinel to identify "nefarious activity."
[Related: Melbourne accountant charged amid widening mortgage fraud probe]
Want to see more stories from trusted news sources?
Make The Adviser a preferred news source on Google.
Click here to add The Adviser as a preferred news source.
