The mortgage broker who wants to add consumer credit
Sofie runs a small independent brokerage in Ghent. Since 2019 she has been registered with the FSMA as a credit intermediary for mortgage loans (hypothecair krediet) only. She has two employees: herself and a half-time assistant who answers the phone and prepares files but never meets clients. A client asks her to also arrange a €18,000 personal loan to renovate the kitchen alongside the mortgage. Sofie thinks this is easy money and starts collecting the client's income documents for the personal loan the same week. She has not contacted the FSMA, has no new registration, and has not signed any agreement with a consumer credit lender. Her assistant has started calling two banks to compare personal loan rates. Sofie argues that because she is already FSMA-registered, adding a second credit type is just a formality she can sort out later.
1. Is Sofie allowed to broker the €18,000 personal loan under her existing registration? Explain what her registration covers and what she would need to change.
Read the worked answer
No. An FSMA registration as a credit intermediary is granted per category of credit agreement, not as a general licence to broker any credit. Sofie's registration covers mortgage loans only. A €18,000 personal loan for renovation is a consumer credit (consumentenkrediet), a separate category under the consumer credit rules, and brokering it requires being registered for that category.
To act lawfully she must:
- Apply to the FSMA for registration (or extension) as a credit intermediary for consumer credit, meeting the applicable access conditions (professional knowledge/competence, reliability, no disqualifying conduct).
- Satisfy the organisational requirements for that activity, including a compliance function proportionate to the business.
- Conclude a written intermediation agreement with at least one registered consumer credit lender before submitting files.
Until that is in place, she may not collect and transmit a consumer credit application for a fee or commission. Doing so is unregistered intermediation, which is a regulatory infringement regardless of her good intentions or her existing mortgage registration.
2. Her assistant is already phoning banks to compare personal loan rates. What is the regulatory significance of the assistant's activity, and what should Sofie do now?
Read the worked answer
The assistant's calls are intermediation activity, not mere administration. Comparing rates with lenders and preparing a consumer credit file for a client is exactly what the registration regime is designed to capture. The fact that the assistant is part-time, never meets clients, and works under Sofie's direction does not remove the activity from scope; intermediaries act through their staff, and the registered intermediary is responsible for what its personnel do.
Sofie should:
- Stop the rate-comparison calls and the collection of income documents for the personal loan immediately, before any file is transmitted.
- Tell the client plainly that she cannot broker the personal loan yet and explain the options (the client can go directly to a lender, or wait until Sofie is registered).
- Not invoice, accept commission, or claim any fee for the personal loan work already done.
- Only resume once the FSMA registration for consumer credit is granted and a lender agreement is signed.
Continuing would expose her to supervisory measures on her existing registration as well, since fitness and reliability are assessed across her whole activity.