Bank predicts licensing overhaul

Speaking at a mortgage finance industry event last week, St George general manager of mortgage broking Clive Kirkpatrick said the convergence of the two industries could be hastened by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) introducing a single licence.

“There are a lot of similarities between the AFSL (Australian Financial Services Licence) and the ACL (Australian Credit Licence), so it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see both licences folded together under one licensing option in the future,” he said.

“We are already starting to see a lot of brokers move into the planning space and vice versa, and I know ASIC would be seeing that too.”

Earlier this year, Gadens Lawyers’ Vicki Grey told ifa  that convergence between mortgage broking and financial planning has to happen.

 “Either it will happen in the form of a single practitioner providing both services or more likely, at least as a first step, where a firm will be able to offer both services as part of separate departments,” she said.

“The benefit is that you can share information, saving a consumer from giving the same info to a planner and a broker. It’s just more convenient and cost-efficient.

“I think it would be a bad thing if the trend towards convergence was thwarted because I think it is difficult to give sound investment advice without the ability to provide an entry into geared arrangements.”