Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia

On 19 November 2021, the Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) lodged an application for revocation and substitution of an existing authorisation concerning its Disciplinary Rules. The MFAA sought re-authorisation for its revised Disciplinary Rules. The MFAA’s membership includes lenders, aggregators, brokers and associated professions such as accountants and lawyers. The Disciplinary Rules outline processes for investigation of complaints, expulsion of members and appeals against refused applications for membership or accreditation. They also include rules for the MFAA Tribunal. Broadly, the amendments seek to simplify the wording of the Disciplinary Rules, remove duplication and clarify some of the processes of the MFAA Tribunal. The Rules have been authorised since 2004 and were most recently re-authorised in 2020.

Re-authorisation was sought for five years and the MFAA also applied for interim authorisation to allow it to continue enforcing its Disciplinary Rules while the ACCC assessed the substantive application.

The ACCC granted interim authorisation for the MFAA’s revised Disciplinary Rules on 9 February 2022 and issued a draft determination proposing to grant authorisation for the Disciplinary Rules for 5 years.

On 9 March 2022, the ACCC issued a final determination granting re-authorisation until 31 March 2027. If no application for review is lodged to the Australian Competition Tribunal, the ACCC’s determination will come into force on 31 March 2022.

Copies of the ACCC’s final determination, draft determination and interim authorisation and of the application for re-authorisation are available below.