Author: roymorgansocial

Pilbara set to seal Chinese funding

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 15 : 3-Jan-19

Australian-listed Pilbara Minerals is believed to have secured funding for the $231m second stage of its Pilgangoora lithium mine in Western Australia. Posco, Great Wall Motor Company, Ganfeng and Pilbara’s bondholders are said to have agreed to finance the expansion project, which will increase annual processing capacity from two million tonnes to five million. Pilbara Minerals’ shares were placed in a trading halt in late December. The stock last traded at $0.62.

CORPORATES
PILBARA MINERALS LIMITED – ASX PLS, POSCO, GREAT WALL MOTOR COMPANY LIMITED, GANFENG LITHIUM COMPANY LIMITED

Rio moves to defer bonus for ex-CEO

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 15 : 3-Jan-19

Rio Tinto is seeking to further postpone the payment of Sam Walsh’s last short and long-term incentive bonuses until an investigation into a scandal associated with the Simandou iron ore project is completed. The former CEO was due to receive half of his remaining incentive bonuses at the end of 2018; Rio Tinto had advised in February 2017 that payment of the final bonuses would be deferred. International agencies are investigating Rio Tinto’s payment of $US10.5 million ($15m) to a French consultant in 2011.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, GREAT BRITAIN. SERIOUS FRAUD OFFICE, UNITED STATES. DEPT OF JUSTICE, PERTH MINT, AUSTRALIA COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS, MITSUI AND COMPANY LIMITED

AMP hotlines to bury fears of charging dead

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Duncan Hughes
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 3-Jan-19

Embattled financial services group AMP has implemented a range of measures aimed at avoiding a repeat of the scandal in which clients continued to be charged fees after they had died. Amongst other things, AMP has established a deceased estates hotline and an online services for administrators, executors and legal representatives of the deceased. AMP’s share price has fallen sharply in the wake of the financial services royal commission’s revelations, while five law firms are preparing class actions.

CORPORATES
AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, RESOLUTION LIFE GROUP LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, COUNT FINANCIAL LIMITED

Cashed-up PE firms warned on overpaying

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Bo Seo, Jemima Whyte
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 15 : 3-Jan-19

Data from the Australian Private Equity & Venture Capital Association shows that the private equity sector completed $6.9bn worth of deals in 2018. Private equity firms have an additional $9.7bn available for acquisitions in 2019. However, Quadrant Private Equity’s executive chairman Chris Hadley says they must avoid paying too much, particularly for lower-quality assets. Meanwhile, experts say the private equity sector’s business model is changing, with more funds opting to partner with super funds and other institutional investors.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRIVATE EQUITY AND VENTURE CAPITAL ASSOCIATION LIMITED, QUADRANT PRIVATE EQUITY PTY LTD, TPG CAPITAL LP, PACIFIC EQUITY PARTNERS PTY LTD, GREENCROSS LIMITED – ASX GXL, PETCO ANIMAL SUPPLIES INCORPORATED, TRANSURBAN GROUP LIMITED – ASX TCL, WESTCONNEX, KKR AND COMPANY LP, MYOB GROUP LIMITED – ASX MYO, BGH CAPITAL PTY LTD, AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, HEALTHSCOPE LIMITED – ASX HSO, NAVITAS LIMITED – ASX NVT, THE CARLYLE GROUP, CAMPBELL INTERNATIONAL, GOLDMAN SACHS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Open loan books, banks told

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 3-Jan-19

The national dwelling price fell by 4.8 per cent in 2018, according to data from CoreLogic, with prices in Sydney and Melbourne falling by 8.9 per cent and seven per cent respectively. Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says the nation’s banks must continue to provide home buyers with access to credit, adding that Labor’s proposed negative gearing reforms would deepen the downturn in the housing market. Meanwhile, Shane Oliver of AMP Capital expects house prices in Sydney and Melbourne to fall by another 10 per cent in 2019.

CORPORATES
CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, FINDER.COM.AU, BANKWEST, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, ST GEORGE BANK LIMITED, BANK OF MELBOURNE LIMITED, BANK OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Banks turn off the investor tap

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian – Page: 13 & 18 : 3-Jan-19

Data from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority shows that the nation’s four largest banks held $471.4bn worth of investor mortgage loans in the year to November 2018. This compares with $471.1bn for the same period in 2017. Westpac and National Australia Bank increased their investor loan books slightly, while the Commonwealth Bank and ANZ recorded declines. Meanwhile, Richard Wiles of Morgan Stanley says APRA’s recent move to abolish caps on interest-only loans is unlikely to boost the major banks’ growth in housing loans.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, BANKWEST, ST GEORGE BANK LIMITED, BANK OF MELBOURNE LIMITED, BANK OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, MST FINANCIAL SERVICES PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, COUNCIL OF FINANCIAL REGULATORS, CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, P&N BANK, FINDER.COM.AU, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG

Treasury ignored in race to cut taxes

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 2-Jan-19

The Treasury has confirmed that it did not undertake any economic modelling on the federal government’s plan to bring forward tax cuts for companies with turnover of less than $50m a year. However, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says the tax package had been subject to revenue costing. Legislation to reduce the tax rate for small and medium enterprises to 25 per cent in 2021-22 rather than 2026-27 was passed with the support of Labor in October.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Disclosing pay cuts scares off executives

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ben Butler
The Australian – Page: 13 & 14 : 2-Jan-19

It has been revealed that ANZ Bank CEO Shayne Elliott warned that people may be deterred from taking up executive roles in the sector if banks are required to reveal the reasons why executives’ pay has been reduced. Elliott expressed concern about the issue in a letter to financial services royal commissioner Kenneth Hayne in early December. Elliott himself has had his remuneration reduced by $950,000 in the current financial year.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, IOOF HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX IFL

Dual citizenship crisis could have been avoided

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 2-Jan-19

Former attorney-general Daryl Williams proposed changes to section 44 of the Constitution in 1997 which would have avoided the need for MPs to resign in recent years due to their dual citizenship status. The National Archives has released cabinet papers which show that the Coalition government was open to holding a referendum on the issue if it had bipartisan support in parliament. The total cost of by-elections and legal bills arising from the dual citizenship crisis is tipped to exceed $24m.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS

Allens calls for copyright rejig to meet AI age

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Lucas Baird
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 2-Jan-19

Andrew Wiseman of law firm Allens has called for an overhaul of Australia’s copyright laws to provide protection for original material that has been generated by artificial intelligence systems. He argues that other countries are addressing the issue of the copyright status of such works, and that it is regularly discussed at international conferences. However, John Fairburn of Minter Ellison cautions against acting too quickly without fully considering the issue.

CORPORATES
ALLENS, MINTER ELLISON