Supreme Court ruling offers glimmer of hope for stranded Hai Money brokers
EzFunds Holding Pty Ltd, operating as Hai Money, has successfully obtained an interim injunction blocking Finsure from acting on a termination notice.
Finsure severed ties with Hai Money in April over fears that a number of Hai Money brokers were involved in fraudulent behaviour.
Hai Money took Finsure to court on Wednesday seeking interim relief against the contract termination on the grounds that it unfairly impacted Hai Money brokers who have not been charged with any wrongdoing.
The crux of Hai Money’s argument was the sudden nature of the contract termination – per Clause 5.4, Finsure is required to give 14 days’ notice to rectify any issues that may lead to a contract termination. However, on 22 April 2026, Hai Money was notified by Finsure that its contract was being terminated “effective immediately from the date of this letter”.
The court found Finsure's termination of Hai Money’s sub-aggregator agreement was arguably invalid, and that allowing it to stand pending a final hearing would effectively kill Hai Money's business.
Finsure relied primarily on a contract clause that allows termination if an intermediary "has committed or was ancillary to any fraud, forgery or material misrepresentation”.
The court found there was a lack of evidence that any Hai Money broker had actually committed fraud – only allegations, media reports, and lender actions taken without stated reasons.
NAB initially suspended 15 individual Hai Money brokers between June and September 2025 pending investigation, before terminating two broker accreditations in October. NAB then suspended all 220 brokers in Hai Money's network in December 2025. By April 2026, NAB had moved to terminate all Hai Money broker accreditations entirely, although Finsure requested to limit terminations to brokers of specific concern.
Finsure chief executive Simon Bednar personally went to bat for Hai Money brokers. “Once again I want to reiterate Finsure and my personal support for the Hai Money business and hope these changes and any recommendations from NAB can see their suspension lifted,” he told NAB in comments disclosed in the court.
According to evidence supplied by Bednar, as at 22 April 2026, Commonwealth Bank had suspended all Hai Money brokers pending investigation, requesting the findings of an independent PwC compliance review commissioned by Finsure. Macquarie Bank terminated five brokers on 20 April 2026, citing risk appetite concerns based on their association with two other individuals rather than any findings of misconduct. ANZ terminated 17 brokers, stating they did not meet its accreditation criteria, while Suncorp suspended a number of brokers pending investigation. The actions were triggered by fraud charges against broker Andrew Hu of Cloud Sven International, linked to the alleged Penthouse Syndicate fraud ring.
Bednar gave evidence that he was, and remains, concerned that the terminations of accreditation of Hai Money brokers by major lenders would taint Finsure’s reputation as “guilty by association” with the brokers whose accreditation had been terminated by those lenders.
He cited concerns about increased insurance premiums for Finsure if it was held liable for involvement in any contraventions of the Australian Consumer Law by brokers whose accreditation had been revoked, and worried that Finsure’s association through Hai Money with the brokers whose accreditation had been revoked could attract scrutiny from regulatory authorities such as the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
The NSW Supreme Court, in granting Hai Money an interim injunction against Finsure's subsequent termination of its sub-aggregator agreement, found the lender actions did not satisfy the contractual threshold required to terminate the agreement – noting that allegations or suspicions of fraud are not equivalent to evidence that fraud has occurred.
“I accept Mr Bednar’s evidence that Finsure no longer wishes to remain in a commercial relationship with Hai Money,” said the Judge. “However, it does not follow that the court should decline interim relief restraining Finsure from terminating that relationship in a manner that is arguably in breach of the agreement that Finsure chose to enter into governing that relationship, in circumstances where Hai Money has a strong prima facie case that the termination was invalid and in all the circumstances described above.”
The Judge added: “The interim injunction should be granted to prevent the practical destruction of the right that Hai Money seeks to vindicate in its claims for final relief pending the determination of those claims at trial.”
There are questions around what the interim injunction means for Hai Money brokers, given the business collapsed following Finsure’s termination of the contract.
According to the Judge’s ruling, the interim injunction will afford Hai Money “the opportunity to continue its business through members of its broker network (who have not yet moved to other sub-aggregators and whose accreditation has not been suspended or terminated by Finsure under clause 5.3 of the agreement) generating loan applications to lenders that have not suspended or terminated the accreditation of those brokers”.
According to Hai Money founder Songyang (aka Bruce) Li’s evidence, there were approximately 250 loans with a total value of approximately $200 million which had received unconditional approval but which had not settled at the time Finsure terminated or purported to terminate the agreement.
“If those loans are not permitted to proceed to settlement as a result of the termination or purported termination, this could result in loss to borrowers, including in respect of any liabilities they may incur to third parties if the failure of their loan to proceed to settlement causes them to breach contractual obligations owed to third parties,” said the Judge. A Hai Money broker told MPA he was overjoyed with the Judge's ruling.
MPA has reached out to Hai Money and Finsure for a comment.
The full court decision is available here.
