PRESS RELEASE: Brisbane broker welcomes ASIC scrutiny: “Borrowers should know who is legally required to put them first”
Brisbane mortgage broker Time Home Loans has welcomed ASIC’s first major review of the mortgage broker best interests duty, saying the scrutiny gives home buyers a clear reason to understand who is legally obliged to act for them.
ASIC’s Report 840, released on 13 October 2026, reviewed eight large broker groups covering around two-thirds of Australia’s mortgage brokers. ASIC found brokers’ practices generally aligned with its guidance. It also called on the industry to strengthen the evidence behind loan recommendations, particularly where a lower-cost loan was available, and to resolve complaints faster.
Time Home Loans director Johnathon “JR” Reeves said the findings should give borrowers confidence and a useful checklist.
“More than 80% of Australian home loans now go through a broker. The regulator has just gone through two years of data checking whether we put clients first. I think that’s exactly what should happen,” Mr Reeves said.
“What most people don’t realise is that the best interests duty applies to brokers only. If you go straight to a bank, the person helping you has to make sure the loan isn’t unsuitable. They aren’t legally required to act in your best interests and they can only offer their own bank’s products.”
Mr Reeves said ASIC’s findings on lower-cost loans were fair.
“Sometimes a loan with a slightly higher cost is the right one. An offset account or a lender that understands self-employed income can be worth far more than a small rate difference. But the client should be able to see that reasoning in black and white. If a broker can’t explain why, that’s a problem.”
Mr Reeves encouraged borrowers to ask any broker or lender four questions: what other loans were compared, why the recommended loan suits them, how the adviser is paid and what the loan will cost over five years against the alternatives.
Time Home Loans compares loans from a panel of more than 50 lenders. Clients do not pay a broker fee; the business is paid by lender commission, which is disclosed before a client proceeds.
About Time Home Loans
Time Home Loans is a Brisbane-based mortgage broking business helping clients across Australia with home loans, refinancing and investment lending. Time Home Loans Pty Ltd ABN 53 161 695 012 is an Authorised Credit Representative 529395 under Australian Credit Licence 384324.
