Author: roymorgansocial

NAB placed on criminal charge alert

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Original article by Ben Butler, Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 9-Aug-18

The "fee for no service" scandal has deepened, with the banking royal commission being told that National Australia Bank had charged more than 4,000 clients some $3m in fees after they had died. Nicole Smith, the chair of NAB’s superannuation trustee, confirmed that it had been charging dead people an adviser fee as recently as June. She said NAB looked into the issue earlier in 2018 after the inquiry heard that the Commonwealth Bank had been collecting fees from deceased customers. The inquiry was also told that NAB’s conduct could potentially incur criminal charges.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION

Shorten calls for states, feds to do NEG deal

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 9-Aug-18

Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has urged Labor-led states to support the national energy guarantee at the Council of Australian Governments meeting on 10 August. The Victorian government maintains that the NEG’s carbon emissions reduction target should be subject to regulation rather than legislation, which is the federal government’s preferred approach. The federal Labor party supports the NEG, although it is advocating a higher emissions reduction target than that proposed by the Coalition.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS, VICTORIA. DEPT OF ENVIRONMENT, LAND, WATER AND PLANNING, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, GETUP LIMITED

Fels backs Greens’ bank-breaker bid

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 9-Aug-18

Former Australian Competition & Consumer Commission chairman Allan Fels has expressed support for the Greens’ proposal to break up the nation’s largest banks and wealth manager AMP. Fels said he has been surprised by the extent of unethical behaviour in the financial services sector that has been exposed by the banking royal commission. He also says there may be merit in the Greens’ proposal to shift responsibility for regulating the sector to the ACCC, arguing that it has been more effective at enforcing the law than ASIC.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB

Optus app’s cup woes not demand-related

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Original article by Supratim Adhikari
The Australian – Page: 19 : 9-Aug-18

Optus will continue to pursue deals for live streaming of soccer matches despite the technical problems that marred its coverage of the FIFA World Cup. Optus CEO Allen Lew has attributed the problems with its Optus Sports app to "compatibility issues" rather than the impact of customer demand on its network. He adds that the app has undergone rigorous testing and describes it as "world class". Optus’s net profit after tax fell by 3.5 per cent to $154m in the June quarter, while operating revenue was six per cent higher than previously at $2.2bn.

CORPORATES
SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE DE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), UNION EUROPEENNE DE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE

Comyn passes first test

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Original article by James Eyers, Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 18 : 9-Aug-18

The Commonwealth Bank has posted a 2017-18 cash profit of $9.23bn, which is 4.8 per cent lower than previously. The result was marred by a 9.2 per cent increase in operating expenses in the wake of the bank’s money-laundering scandal and the banking royal commission. CEO Matt Comyn says there will be "substantial progress" on addressing governance issues during 2018-19. Shareholders will receive a 2017-18 full-year dividend of $4.31 per share, which is $0.02 higher than previously.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, CLIME ASSET MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, PERENNIAL VALUE MANAGEMENT LIMITED, ALPHINITY INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

Fortescue out of kilter on discounts

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Original article by Matthew Stevens
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 9-Aug-18

Fortescue Metals Group CEO Elizabeth Gaines maintains that the price discount for lower-grade iron ore is cyclical rather than structural. The general consensus among iron ore producers is that the price gap will be sustained, with executives from Rio Tinto and Vale recently expressing the view that Chinese steel mills will continue to favour higher-grade ore. The benchmark price of iron ore rose by almost three per cent on 7 August, to almost $US70 per tonne.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, VALE SA, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, CITIGROUP INCORPORATED

Facebook pledges to boost quality

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Original article by Yolanda Redrup
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 9-Aug-18

Facebook’s algorithms detected the bulk of the 583 million fake accounts that the social media giant deleted during the March quarter. Campbell Brown, Facebook’s global head of news partnerships, says about one million fake accounts are being deleted each day and the company is making significant progress in combating fake news. However, she has conceded that Facebook cannot completely remove fake news from its platform. Brown has also indicated that Facebook will shortly launch its Watch video-on-demand service in Australia.

CORPORATES
FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA LLC, APPLE INCORPORATED, YOUTUBE INCORPORATED, SPOTIFY LIMITED

Macquarie Media turns up the volume with profit surge

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 19 : 9-Aug-18

Australian-listed Macquarie Media has posted a 2017-18 net profit of $21.5m, which is 24 per cent higher than previously. Revenue was four per cent higher at $136.3m, and shareholders will receive a final dividend of $0.04 per share. Fairfax Media has a 54.5 per cent stake in the radio broadcaster, and Macquarie Media chairman Russell Tate says the group will benefit from the synergies arising from Fairfax’s proposed merger with Nine Entertainment Company.

CORPORATES
MACQUARIE MEDIA LIMITED – ASX MRN, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, 2GB, 3AW SOUTHERN CROSS RADIO PTY LTD

Inflation target here to stay, says Lowe

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 9-Aug-18

The Reserve Bank of Australia remains committed to its long-term goal of returning the inflation rate to 2.5 per cent. Central bank governor Philip Lowe says the inflation target will not be reviewed. Lowe has also indicated that achieving the inflation target is not a prerequisite for increasing official interest rates. He added that the statement of monetary policy to be released on 10 August will show that the RBA does not expect the unemployment rate to fall to five per cent before the end of 2020.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, THE ANIKA FOUNDATION

Greens on mission to break up the banks

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 8 : 8-Aug-18

Australian Greens leader Richard Di Natale says action is needed to address the "toxic culture" within the banking sector that has arisen due to the vertical integration model. The Greens propose to limit financial services groups to one of four roles, such as traditional banking services or asset management. Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson advocates breaking up the banks, arguing that financial complexity has benefited the sector much more than consumers.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP