Macquarie Bank’s booming mortgage business has clarified its professional expectations of thousands of brokers that market its home loan products after the release of a new proprietary code of conduct. The country’s fastest growing home lender notified affiliated mortgage brokers last Thursday that subscription to the new code would form part of retaining their accreditation to originate loans on behalf of the bank. “Thank you for choosing to do business with us,” Macquarie tells brokers in the memo. “Our Broker Code of Conduct has been created to provide you with the expectations we hold you to as part of your accreditation. “Each time you interact with us, you are agreeing to uphold the standards outlined in our Code of Conduct. “This Code also applies to your staff.” Banks are under pressure from regulators to meet responsible lending obligations and are required to ensure that accredited brokers are aware of their policies relating to conduct, consumer protection and credit approval. Macquarie’s decision to develop a proprietary code for brokers is unusual in the local market as only two other banks – CBA and the Bank of Sydney –  appear to have issued their own codes. Most lenders appear to rely on an industry code of practice sponsored by the Mortgage Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) to extract commitments from brokers regarding standards of conduct and disclosure. The MFAA code is wide-ranging but is written in a more dense and technocratic style than the proprietary code drafted by Macquarie. Macquarie’s code is also distinguishable from industry model because it appears to widen some obligations of brokers to borrowers and the bank. The MFAA code is largely silent about a broker’s obligation to maintain the privacy of clients, whereas clause 7 of the Macquarie conduct policy spells out the broker’s duty to “protect the privacy of customer information”. There is also variation between the MFAA and Macquarie codes on the lengths to which brokers are required to furnish information to customers about prospective loan arrangements. While the MFAA code requires brokers to “adhere to reasonable instructions of customers” and to disclose all relevant details known about a proposed credit application “as and when appropriate”, the Macquarie code calls for more open-ended disclosure. Clause 9 of the Macquarie code requires brokers to “provide the customer with whatever information they need to understand” the products that are available to the broker. CBA, which has had a proprietary code of conduct in place for brokers for several years, also highlights the obligations of brokers in relation to customer privacy.  In clause 42 of the CBA code, the bank advises brokers to notify their aggregation platform if they suspect a breach of sensitive customer data has occurred. The decision to notify the bank of the suspected data breach appears to rest with the aggregator. While other leading banks have not seen a need to draft idiosyncratic codes for the brokers they deal with, most set expectations of professional conduct through training programs and practice manuals. ANZ’s standards are contained in an operations manual issued to all accredited brokers. Included in the standards are the need for ANZ-accredited