Author: roymorgansocial

Raid leak designed to damage Shorten

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 14-Feb-19

David De Garis has told the Federal Court that he cannot recall if he told Michaelia Cash that he intended to give the media advance notice of police raids on the offices of the Australian Workers’ Union. However, Cash’s former media adviser revealed that he had not acted alone, stating that he leaked details of the raids in partnership with Michael Tetlow, who was the media adviser to former justice minister Michael Keenan at the time.

CORPORATES
FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Follow-up to bank probe

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Original article by John Kehoe, Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 14-Feb-19

Labor’s push to recall parliament for an additional two weeks in March seems unlikely to succeed after three crossbenchers signalled that they will oppose the motion. Meanwhile, the federal government has told banks and industry regulators that it will hold another inquiry in three years’ time to make sure that the misconduct exposed by the financial services royal commission is not being repeated. Labor in turn has proposed harsher penalties for misconduct in the sector.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIAN BANKING ASSOCIATION, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC

Reforms ‘won’t be easy’, says APRA

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Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 21 : 14-Feb-19

Australian Prudential Regulation Authority chairman Wayne Byres has defended its track record for overseeing the financial services sector, after APRA was criticised by the Hayne royal commission. Byres acknowledges that APRA must be more active in regulating the financial services sector, but he notes the challenges involved. He points out that APRA has a workforce of just 600 to supervise nearly 600 financial services providers, and only about half of its employees have a frontline role.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION

Morrison ramps up border protection blitz

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 14-Feb-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has committed to repealing the medivac legislation if the Coalition wins the 2019 election and has sufficient numbers in parliament to do so. The federal government will strengthen its border protection policies – including re-opening the detention centre on Christmas Island – in the wake of its historic defeat over the medivac bill. Labor has downplayed concerns that the medivac legislation will prompt a new wave of asylum-seekers, stressing that it applies solely to refugees who are currently on Manus Island and Nauru.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS, AUSTRALIAN BORDER FORCE

Rising gold price makes Evolution think twice about acquisitions

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 14-Feb-19

Evolution Mining has reported a 2018-19 interim net profit of $92m, down from $122.5m previously. Executive chairman Jake Klein anticipates further consolidation in the gold sector and he says the mid-tier miner is open to acquisitions. However, he stresses that Evolution will only consider assets that enhance the company’s portfolio and add value for shareholders. Meanwhile, Northern Star Resources has posted an interim net profit of $82m and revenue of $633.5m.

CORPORATES
EVOLUTION MINING LIMITED – ASX EVN, NORTHERN STAR RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX NST, BARRICK GOLD CORPORATION, RANDGOLD RESOURCES LIMITED, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS

BHP’s $1.3bn to lift US oil projects

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 20 : 14-Feb-19

Production at the Atlantis oil field in the Gulf of Mexico will increase by about 38,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day following BHP’s decision to invest $US696m ($976.3m) in the third stage of the project. BHP will also spend $US256m on drilling an additional appraisal well at its Trion project off the coast of Mexico. The capital investment is part of BHP’s strategy to increase its conventional oil and gas output.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, BP PLC

Macquarie chief backs loan brokers

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian – Page: 19 & 23 : 13-Feb-19

Macquarie Group has affirmed that it expects profit growth of around 15 per cent for fiscal 2019, which suggests a full-year profit of at least $3bn. Meanwhile, Macquarie has more than $24bn worth of capital reserves at present, but CEO Shemara Wikramanayake has stressed the need for discipline with regard to risk management in the current environment. She has also expressed support for the mortgage broking industry in the wake of the financial services royal commission.

CORPORATES
MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, CADENCE CAPITAL LIMITED – ASX CDT, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, QUADRANT ENERGY PTY LTD, PROPERTY EXCHANGE AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Directors walk out of DJs’ parent firm

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 13-Feb-19

Gail Kelly and Patrick Allaway have resigned from the board of Woolworths Holdings. They had been re-elected as non-executive directors of the South Africa-based group in late 2018, prompting investors to speculate about the reason for their departure. Woolworths Holdings owns Australian department store chain David Jones, whose CEO David Thomas recently resigned for personal reasons. An investigation by law firm Ashurst had previously cleared him of a discrimination allegation.

CORPORATES
WOOLWORTHS HOLDINGS LIMITED, DAVID JONES LIMITED, ASHURST LLP, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, COUNTRY ROAD LIMITED

Qantas goes after slice of frequent buyers’ credit card spending

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Original article by Patrick Hatch
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 13-Feb-19

Qantas has launched a new Titanium credit card that will be offered solely to customers whose annual income exceeds $200,000. Qantas Loyalty CEO Olivia Worth notes that the airline’s top 1000 loyalty scheme members generate most of their frequent flyer points from expenditure on goods and services rather than flights. Qantas’s customer loyalty partners include Woolworths, AustralianSuper and Red Energy.

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, QANTAS FREQUENT FLYER LIMITED, WOOLWORTHS LIQUOR, AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, RED ENERGY PTY LTD

Cash forced to explain union raids evidence

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Original article by Ewin Hannan, Tessa Akerman
The Australian – Page: 4 : 13-Feb-19

Following police raids on the offices of the Australian Workers’ Union in October 2017, Senator Michaelia Cash told a Senate estimates hearing that no member of her staff had prior knowledge of the raids. However, her former media adviser David De Garis has told the Federal Court that Ben Davis – who was Cash’s chief-of-staff at the time – had informed him of the raids several hours before they occurred. De Garis later resigned after admitting that he had leaked details of the raids to the media.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA