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ISCOVER
Jessica Darnbrough
Days after the Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) announced it would terminate more than 1,000 memberships, one of Australia’s majors has confirmed the decision will not change anything for the bank.
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Speaking at a roundtable organised by The Adviser in Sydney yesterday, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s (CBA’s) executive general manager, third party and mobile banking, Kathy Cummings, said the lender would continue to do business with the brokers recently terminated by the MFAA.
“We will be sticking to the status quo,” Ms Cummings said. “Whether or not a broker is accredited with the MFAA will not impact the way they do business with CBA.
“We are more concerned about doing business with quality writers and not brokers who have completed the diploma because they have to.”
Ms Cummings’ comments come days after the MFAA confirmed it would terminate the membership of 1,100 brokers who had not managed to complete their Diploma in Financial Services by the deadline.
In 2009, the MFAA board decided that by 31 January 2013 all loan writing members must have successfully completed the Diploma in Financial Services (Finance/Mortgage Broking Management), or equivalent, to continue their membership of the MFAA and use the 'MFAA Credit Adviser' accreditation.
MFAA chief executive Phil Naylor said it was important to draw a line in the sand and de-credit those who had not met the deadline.
“We are very pleased that more than 88 per cent of our members are now qualified to use the new accreditation MFAA Credit Adviser, with expectations that many of those whose membership has been terminated will seek to have it reinstated within the next two months by providing evidence of the required education qualifications,” he said.
“It is very important that the sector, which now delivers more than 40 per cent of mortgages in Australia, continues to show leadership in professional education, standards and compliance, negating the need for any further government intervention and regulation.
“With this sector providing home loans worth more than $100 billion this year, MFAA Credit Advisers are now a very important part of the financial services sector and MFAA members can now confidently display and promote their qualifications to their clients.
“I thank all of our members who have attained the new standard and accreditation and urge those who have been slow off the mark to get their diplomas as soon as possible to regain their membership status.”
