Finlay was appointed at the trade body’s Annual General Meeting in London and will take over from outgoing chairman John Heron at the start of December.
The move means IMLA will have a chairman from a mainstream UK bank for the first time.
Charles Haresnape, managing director of residential mortgages at intermediary-only lender Aldermore, has been appointed deputy chairman.
John Heron will continue to serve as a director on the IMLA board and will be joined by Richard Tugwell, director of intermediary sales at Virgin Money, and Kevin Purvey, head of intermediary sales at Coventry Building Society.
David Finlay, the incoming chairman of IMLA, commented: “I am delighted to have been elected as chairman for IMLA, and that Charles Haresnape has agreed to work alongside me as deputy chair.
“John Heron has done a fabulous job for IMLA through a really dynamic period in the industry’s history, and will be a hard act to follow.
“Without pre-empting what we aim to deliver on behalf of IMLA members, we will continue to work closely with other trade bodies, particularly the CML and AMI, and hold regular dialogue with the regulator and government to influence their thinking for the benefit of the industry.
“As an inclusive, member-focused trade body we will also seek to ensure our members can regularly meet to share their thoughts and views.”
John Heron added “IMLA has made very significant progress over the last two years. It now represents a much more comprehensive and diverse range of intermediary lenders, and counts amongst its executive committee representatives some of the most experienced individuals in the industry.
“This ensures a very high quality debate and a laser-sharp identification of the challenges our industry faces.
“I am very grateful to the outgoing board for their hard work and support over the last two years. Together we have reinvigorated IMLA as the representative body for intermediary mortgage lenders.
“The strength and diversity of the new board underlines the progress we have made – with a large retail bank, a ‘challenger’ brand, a leading building society and two specialist lenders for the general and buy-to-let markets.”
