An ASIC review of mortgage brokers providing credit assistance for home loans in the first six months of the new national credit regime has found that while they are generally aware of the new responsible lending obligations and taking steps to comply, there is room for improvement.

ASIC Commissioner Peter Kell said the responsible lending obligations are central to the new national credit regime and that ASIC is committed to ensuring industry adopts practices and procedures to achieve compliance.

‘We’re in the process of following up specific concerns with individual brokers and will be working with industry bodies to promote compliance more widely.’

ASIC’s review focused on the practices of mortgage brokers, rather than lenders, because the responsible lending requirements didn’t apply to most home lenders until January 2011. A further review of how credit providers in the home lending market are now meeting their responsible lending obligations will commence in coming months.

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Source: ASIC

In order to boost compliance levels, mortgage brokers would be well advised to adopt a platform such as POLICYPOINT, which cost-effectively manages the processes around employees - such as brokers - being trained on compliance requirements.