Author: roymorgansocial

Telstra TV reboots streaming push

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Supratim Adhikari, Chris Griffith
The Australian – Page: 20 : 24-Oct-17

The new version of Telstra’s streaming video device provides access to free-to-air networks and their "catch-up" services, as well as subscription video-on-demand providers such as Netflix and Foxtel Now. Jo Pollard, Telstra’s head of media, says the Telstra TV2 device uses high efficiency video coding, so broadband speed limitations should not be an issue for users. Pollard adds that the proposal to merge Foxtel with Fox Sports will be a "net positive" for the telco, which will hold a 35 per cent stake in the merged entity.

CORPORATES
TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, FOXTEL NOW, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, HAYU, BIGPOND MOVIES, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS

FIRB tick for Ten takeover

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Dana McCauley
The Australian – Page: 19 : 24-Oct-17

CBS Corporation’s acquisition of the Ten Network has cleared a key hurdle, with the Foreign Investment Review Board advising that it will not oppose the deal. The Supreme Court of New South Wales is scheduled to commence a hearing on the deal in late October, and small shareholders David Gubbay and Yunfeng Du are expected to challenge the transfer of Ten’s shares to CBS.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, CBS CORPORATION, SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES, KORDA MENTHA AND COLLEAGUES PTY LTD, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, 21ST CENTURY FOX INCORPORATED

Rudd tells Shorten: expel CFMEU militants

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Troy Bramston
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 24-Oct-17

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd says the Australian Labor Party should sever its ties with the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union due to its failure to comply with industrial laws. Rudd argues that Labor must reduce the influence of unions within the party as it is hindering the development of policies aimed at economic reform. The CFMEU has been fined millions of dollars in the last several years, including a recent fine of $A2.4m for unlawful industrial action at the Barangaroo project in Sydney. Rudd’s memoir will be published on 24 October.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, BUILDERS’ LABOURERS’ FEDERATION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION

ASIC win on bank swap rate rigging

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Patrick Durkin, James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 24-Oct-17

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission’s case against Westpac, the ANZ, and National Australia Bank has been put on hold for two days. ASIC had accused the three banks of trying to rig the bank bill swap rate. However, the ANZ reported a day before the case was due to start that it had reached a settlement with ASIC, and it is understood that NAB may also do so. The deferment will allow ASIC’s deal with ANZ to be finalised and for it to be approved by the court. Outgoing ASIC chairman Greg Medcraft says the ANZ’s decision to settle the case vindicates its decision to pursue the case. It is believed that ANZ has agreed to pay a fine in the order of $A50 million.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, UNITED STATES. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, GREAT BRITAIN. FINANCIAL CONDUCT AUTHORITY

Medibank fails to satisfy members

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Alice Uribe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 24-Oct-17

Morgan Stanley’s latest survey of customer attitudes to health insurance policies has found that 48 per cent were likely to consider changing insurers over the next 12 months, up from 41 per cent. Medibank Private had the lowest percentage of customers who would recommend it to a friend, while 50 per cent of Medibank Private customers indicated they would be likely to "shop around" over the next year, up from 40 per cent.

CORPORATES
MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL, AHM HEALTH INSURANCE, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED MOTOR INSURERS LIMITED, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, NIB HEALTH FUNDS LIMITED, HBF HEALTHFUNDS INCORPORATED, THE HOSPITAL CONTRIBUTIONS FUND OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH

Brexit shut one door, opened another for Auscap

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Glenda Korporaal
The Australian – Page: 17 & 21 : 24-Oct-17

Auscap Asset Management, which was founded by Tim Carleton and Matthew Parker in 2012, boasts about $A450m worth of funds under management. Carleton says Auscap saw Britain’s vote to leave the European Union as an opportunity to buy several Australian stocks with exposure to the UK at a healthy discount to their pre-Brexit share price. Likewise, the firm capitalised on bearish sentiment toward retail stocks following the Federal Government’s 2014 Budget to buy oversold stocks in the sector.

CORPORATES
AUSCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, GOLDMAN SACHS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ANSELL LIMITED – ASX ANN, JB HI-FI LIMITED – ASX JBH, CALEDONIA INVESTMENTS LIMITED, COTA CAPITAL, THORNEY INVESTMENT GROUP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, COLONIAL FIRST STATE GROUP LIMITED, BLACK DOG INSTITUTE, VICTOR CHANG CARDIAC RESEARCH INSTITUTE LIMITED, MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS RESEARCH AUSTRALIA LIMITED, JUVENILE DIABETES RESEARCH FOUNDATION INTERNATIONAL

Chinese entrench iron ore discount

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 20 : 24-Oct-17

The price discount between iron ore with 62 per cent content and lower-grade ore has traditionally been within the range of 10-15 per cent, although it has widened significantly in 2017. Chris Salisbury, the head of Rio Tinto’s iron ore division, says China’s decision to curb steel production during winter should not affect demand for Rio’s higher-grade iron ore. He adds that this in turn will ensure that the price discount will be sustained. Salisbury also says the widening discount appears to be structural.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, ATLAS IRON LIMITED – ASX AGO, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, TAFE WESTERN AUSTRALIA

ALP’s $200 power bill shock

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 24-Oct-17

Labor has stated that it will seek to have 50 per cent of electricity produced from renewable sources by 2030. It will also seek to reduce carbon emissions by 45 per cent. However, modelling by the Climate Change Authority has concluded that achieving its 50 per cent target would increase the average household’s power bill by $A200 a year, as well as requiring 17,000 megawatts of coal-fired power generation to be taken out of the National Electricity Market. Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg has claimed Labor is trying to conceal the cost of its energy policy.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. CLIMATE CHANGE AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Frustrated judges put fine pedal to the metal for militant union

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 24-Oct-17

Industrial relations barrister Stuart Wood notes that judges have become much more willing to impose maximum penalties on the CFMEU for breaching workplace laws in recent years. He adds that only five years ago the $A2.4m fine imposed on the union by Justice Geoffrey Flick in September would have been much lower. The Federal Circuit Court’s Judge Salvatore Vasta also recently imposed the maximum penalty of $A306,000 for breaching workplace laws but said the fine would have been much higher if he had the scope to do so.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURT OF AUSTRALIA, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO TRADE UNION GOVERNANCE AND CORRUPTION, K&L GATES LLP

Corporate penalties to be tripled

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Patrick Durkin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 23-Oct-17

The Federal Government will give incoming Australian Securities & Investments Commission chairman James Shipton greater powers to impose penalties on companies that do the wrong doing. The changes stem from recommendations by an ASIC taskforce and David Murray’s Financial System Inquiry. Amongst other things, the ASIC taskforce suggested that penalties for corporate wrongdoing be increased from $A1 million to $A3 million. ASIC has long been concerned that the extent of the penalties it can impose do not match those available to other regulators such as the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission and AUSTRAC.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, HARVARD UNIVERSITY, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, THE GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS