Finance Broker Association of Australia report 2007

THE FBAA in NSW (and all states) continues to grow strongly, and I would like to thank everyone for their support of initiatives taken in NSW this year.

It is important to remember the key principles that the FBAA stands for - there is a saying which, in my abridged version, goes "it is not who you are within yourself that people see, but it's what you do publicly that defines you"The FBAA stands publicly as an association "run by brokers for brokers" and is a not-forprofit organisation. We put your needs and rights first.

The FBAA is proactively lobbying government and industry to ensure our members' voices are heard and that the needs of the members - and indeed all finance brokers nationally - are considered with the any introduction of any legislation or market initiatives.

We have just finalised the Queensland leg of a series of highly successful educational Road Shows. These will continue in 2007 in NSW regional areas in conjunction with our seven (7) Regional Representative Offices across the state.

As we progress into 2007, we will advise you of state initiatives and events that I am sure will continue to reinforce the value the FBAA brings to your business.

At our State AGM in September the 2007 Council was elected: Rob Redfern (Mortgage House) taking over as State Vice-President, Anne Thanudchang (Propex) as State Secretary; and Darren Abikhair (EFS), Chris Gibson (Brokers Choice) and Chris Riotto (Australian Lending Centre) as State Councillors.

My thanks to the 2006 Councillors for their support. We look forward to another successful year with the support of our new state executives.

Next year is indeed looking to be very exciting, and I wish everyone a happy and safe Christmas and New Year.

Regional reports

Central Coast - John Cooper (Erina) Property prices on the Central Coast and in the Hunter region have remained fairly static over the last few months following the well-published reduction in prices in Sydney. Some properties along the coastal stripes of Terrigal and Avoca and prime farm land have shown a steady increase as buyers snap up the better properties. Because of this, many of the brokers I have spoken to have been busy working on refinancing loans for local clients and loans for new purchases for older clients moving out of the CBD.

A number of brokers I met recently at a business function had recently moved to the Central Coast because they believe that they had a better opportunity to set up their businesses here than in the `melting pot' of Sydney. Only time will tell, but we wish them all the best. All are now FBAA members and are keen to get involved in FBAA matters. If any member would like to contact me to discuss any FBAA or general issues please email me at john@centralhomeloans.com.au or call me on 0427 845314.

As this will be the last magazine for this year, I wish you all a happy holiday season and wish you all the best for 2007. Riverina - Janette Tucker Wagga Wagga had its inaugural FBAA Golf Day, with 17 players attending what was a fantastic day at the Wagga Country Golf Club, with plenty to drink and eat, and having the company of the local finance brokers. The day was proudly sponsored by Circuit Finance, with John from Circuit and myself teaming up to play the course - we took a corporate initiative not to overwhelm the local brokers by ensuring we came last - well, that's our story and we're sticking to it. It was a very successful day and our thanks to Janette for all her efforts in arranging the event. We look forward to the 2007 tee-off.

National Lender's Consultative Committee

The National Lender's Consultative Committee (NLCC) meet early October and was well attended by key lending executives from CBA, Arab Bank, Orix, Circuit, Benchmark, Think Tank Commercial, and National Lending.

Issues discussed were based on market concerns over the level of fraud in the marketplace and how the Institutions were dealing with this problem. National licensing and regulation together with the proposed Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism legislation were continued topics from our previous meeting together with the strong focus the FBAA takes on education and training with a presentation conducted by Jeff Mazzini on AAMC's specially designed course for FBAA Members. Issues were discussed from the Committee Attendees with various considerations to be put to the FBAA National Executive for consideration.

The meeting closed at 12pm with the next meetings for 2007 to be tentatively neia in tkpru, August ana ivovemoer with formal dates TBA.

State Corporate Partners

The FBAA is a not-for-profit organisation and all monies raised go towards benefiting members, so if you would like to nnanciany support the initiatives of the FBAA in NSW - and have your brand predominantly displayed to our members and associates, and to receive many other benefits that this brings - please contact me direct.