The International Mortgage Brokers Federation (IMBF) has elected Peter White, the managing director of the Finance Brokers Association of Australia (FBAA), as its inaugural chair of their board of governors.

Mr White continues in his role as the association’s managing director and has been part of the FBAA for 16 years holding positions including national vice president, national president, chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer.

“I am honoured to be elected to this position with the IMBF which uniquely leads the broking industry in global co-operation and collaboration. At no time in our industry’s history has this been done.”

Mr White played a significant part in the birth of the federation which was launched in Canada late last year. A foundation meeting last month established the board of governors and elected office holders.

“The purpose of the IMBF is to lead industry associations around the world in collaboration so they can openly discuss their own journeys with regulation and how they may impact regulation in our own countries.

“The IMBF has already proven its worth in the FBAA response to the banking royal commission. The commission was told by a major bank that the Netherlands broker model should be implemented here.

“Our colleagues in the Netherlands quickly explained the failures of that model and our resulting submission saw both sides of politics, and the commission itself, reject the idea.”

“As well as broking topics the IMBF also discusses matters such as property markets, economies, regulations, global codes of conduct, rules of ethics, data research and best practice so that our members are informed like never before,” Mr White said.

The IMBF also established an international referral network allowing brokers to refer clients moving overseas (or those coming to Australia from overseas) to be looked after by leading professional brokers in the country they are moving to, in consultation with the client’s current local broker.

The board of governors include chief executive officers, managing directors and national presidents representing finance and mortgage broker industry associations from Australia, Canada, the UK and the USA. New Zealand, the Netherlands, and other countries from Europe and Asia are expected to join soon.