It is a principle inherent to the value proposition of mortgage broking (a dubious concept, but stay with us) that there are gains to be had in forcing lenders to compete for your business.

Which is why we got a chuckle out of the announcement from Mark Bouris' Yellow Brick Road last week it was in "exclusive negotiations" to borrow $300 million to set up a mortgage warehouse facility with "one of the four major Australian banks". Needless to say, the big four don't enter into exclusivity agreements to limit their lending, so the exclusivity is presumably all on Yellow Brick Road's side. Which apparently is a good thing. Imagine boasting you were in "exclusive negotiations" with Westpac to get a home loan!