Personal finance company Latitude Financial has come under fire from CHOICE, the country's peak consumer advocate, for offering heavy upfront commissions to mortgage brokers.Broker remuneration schedules obtained by Banking Day show that brokers affiliated with the Connective aggregation platform are receiving commissions of up to 15 per cent for originating consumer finance for Latitude.While not all Latitude products carry the double-digit commission, the remuneration structure means that brokers are able to collect an upfront payment of A$750 on $5000 personal loans taken out by their clients.This is easily the most lucrative commission rate offered to Australian brokers for any type of credit product.CHOICE's head of policy Erin Turner warned that Latitude's commissions were so lucrative compared to other lenders they could be distorting the personal loan recommendations made by brokers."A fifteen per cent commission for a broker on a personal loan is extremely high - it should send warning bells to any consumer looking for a personal loan," she told Banking Day."Latitude is advertising and clearly pushing hard through broker channels to reach more people. "But, their loans are hardly the best on market."Latitude charges rates of up to 29.99 per cent on unsecured personal loans, but the annual cost of some products can exceed 35 per cent after establishment and monthly fees are accounted for.Alternative lender Liberty Financial has traditionally offered the fattest incentives to brokers for originating personal loans, but they are dwarfed by the rates paid by Latitude.Liberty currently pays upfront commissions of slightly more than four per cent on personal loans.Westpac also markets a personal line of credit product through mortgage brokers but pays a flat fee of only $250 for each loan written.The bank reserves the right to claw back all of the commission from brokers affiliated with the eChoice platform if borrowers have not drawn down at least half of the credit line within six months.News of the big commissions comes at a sensitive moment for the broking industry, which is facing a potential overhaul of remuneration practices by the Turnbull Government.A review of broker commissions by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission in March recommended bans be slapped on the payment of volume-based bonuses for mortgages.The regulator also wants the industry to rework the performance criteria for determining upfront and trail commissions so that remuneration is "better aligned" with customer outcomes.While ASIC recognised that brokers generate loan sales beyond residential mortgages, it did not consider whether commissions on other credit products (not related to housing) were excessive.Banking Day has sought comment from Latitude about the structure of its payments to brokers.