The Federal Court has ruled that two Sydney finance broking companies engaged in unconscionable and misleading conduct in arranging for clients to sign contracts for business loans when they knew they wanted personal loans.By applying for business instead of personal loans the broker would avoid regulatory coverage under the Uniform Consumer Credit Code (the forerunner of the National Consumer Credit Protection Act).The brokers were the Australian Lending Centre and Sydney Lending Centre, owned by Christopher Riotto, who was formerly the New South Wales president of the Finance Brokers Association of Australia.The case was brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. The court granted an injunction restraining the companies from similar conduct in the future. The court also found that in one case the broker knew the borrower could not afford the repayments. In another case the broker exploited the client, a disability pensioner, by arranging a loan with a monthly rate of five per cent. The court awarded compensation to one of the borrowers.