Absolved: Why the Broker Isn’t Your Enemy

Leidara Admin
August 28, 2026

Series: Navigating the Commercial Finance Marketplace — Article 3

Picture a broker’s desk at nine on a Friday night. Files stacked high. Phone still buzzing. Three deals due Monday, none of them straightforward. It is easy to blame the broker when a deal goes wrong. It is much harder, and much fairer, to ask why the broker was ever put in that position. This is the third article in Leidara’s series on navigating the commercial finance marketplace. Today we defend the broker, and point the finger at the system around them.

A System Built on Volume, Not Selection

Australia now has more than 22,000 finance and mortgage brokers, and the number active in commercial lending is growing fast[1]. Most work through the same handful of aggregator panels. These panels reward throughput. More files, more income, more security for the broker’s own business.

In this kind of system, saying no is expensive. A broker who declines a hard deal loses the deal, the referral, and sometimes the relationship. So most brokers say yes, then scramble to make it work. That scramble is rarely the broker’s fault. It is the system telling them what to do.

The Protection That Never Arrived

Here is something few business owners realise. Since 2021, mortgage brokers must act in a consumer’s best interests when arranging a home loan. This is a legal duty under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act. It also comes with a ban on conflicted commissions[2][3].

This protection does not extend to commercial finance. Most business lending sits outside that Act entirely. So in most cases, the broker arranging your business loan is under no statutory duty to act in your best interests[2]. A homebuyer today has stronger legal protection than a business owner borrowing millions.

This is not an accusation against brokers. Many act with real integrity, every day, without being legally required to. But it does explain a great deal. The safety net everyone assumes exists for commercial deals simply is not there.

The Real Cost to Growing Businesses

Without that structure, deals can be arranged quickly and closed under pressure. Clauses go unexamined. Costly terms sit quietly in the fine print. Business owners often only discover them when things get tough. Or a new opportunity arrives, and their existing finance quietly blocks the way.

ASIC’s own 2025 review of the private credit sector flagged exactly this pattern. It found opaque fee structures, inconsistent valuation practices, and unclear definitions of key terms across the industry[4]. Restrictive covenants and expensive exit costs are rarely obvious at signing. They surface later, often at the worst possible time.

How Leidara Reverses the Spiral

Leidara’s answer is not to blame brokers. It is to help genuine ones specialise. When a broker builds deep, verified expertise in one part of the market, lenders start to know exactly what they are getting. The risk becomes easier to price. It becomes easier to monitor and easier to trust.

Over time, this changes lender behaviour too. Financiers begin designing sharper products for these specialists and their niche clients, because the risk profile is finally visible. Better products lead to fewer surprises. Fewer surprises lead to lower arrears. Lower arrears lead back to lower margins for everyone, including brokers and financiers[5].

Broker activity in SME lending has already been growing. The Reserve Bank notes it has generally supported healthy competition among lenders[5]. Specialisation is the next step. It turns that existing broker energy into something more durable.

Good brokers are not the enemy in this story. Many are squeezed by the same system that leaves their clients exposed. Leidara exists to give both of them a way out.

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Disclaimer

This article is for general information only and is not legal or financial advice. Business owners should contact Leidara to obtain independent professional advice specific to their situation.