It’s not every day a judgment is so scathing that it puts an entire industry into turmoil. But a judgment from the Supreme Court of Victoria into mortgage broking giant Connective has put a cloud over its reputation and ownership structure.

Connective is the country’s biggest mortgage broking aggregator, with 4000 mortgage brokers operating under its banner and many of them sitting under its Australian Credit Licence, writing more than $85 billion a year in new home loans.