K62 Finance

Canadian bank axes analysts in Newcrest fiasco

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Original article by Anthony Klan
The Australian – Page: 21 : 26-Jun-14

Newcrest Mining has agreed to pay a penalty of $A1.2m for selectively briefing analysts in late May 2013. The Australian Securities & Investments Commission told the Federal Court that the company breached its continuous disclosure obligations by not informing the wider market as well of its downgraded gold output figures, but the analysts were not to blame. However, Geoff Breen and Michael Orphanides as well as head of research Peter Main departed Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) in mid-2013, soon after it received the inside knowledge from Newcrest. The investment bank has declined to comment

CORPORATES
NEWCREST MINING LIMITED – ASX NCM, ROYAL BANK OF CANADA, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, BANK OF AMERICA AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MERRILL LYNCH (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, CREDIT SUISSE AG, COLONIAL FIRST STATE GLOBAL ASSET MANAGEMENT, COLONIAL HOLDING COMPANY LIMITED – ASX CNG, MACQUARIE BANK LIMITED – ASX MBL

Nimble start-up challenges the big four

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Original article by Damon Kitney
The Australian – Page: 21 : 26-Jun-14

Technology company Nimble has raised $A10 million in new funding from Acorn Capital and Monash Investors. It specialises in providing small personal loans to creditworthy borrowers. It uses data analytics to reduce approval times. Australia’s big four banks are now under competitive pressure from small companies that use new technology to offer services such as payments, short-term lending, and peer-to-peer lending

CORPORATES
NIMBLE PTY LTD, ISELECT LIMITED – ASX ISU, ACORN CAPITAL INVESTMENT FUND LIMITED – ASX ACQ, MONASH INVESTORS PTY LTD, SEEK LIMITED – ASX SEK, SQUARE PEG CAPITAL PTY LTD, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, SOCIETYONE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, REINVENTURE GROUP PTY LTD

Australian rally on Fed statements could be short-lived

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Original article by Sally Rose
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 and 22 : 20-Jun-14

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose by 1.6 per cent on 19 June 2014, and the All Ordinaries Index was up 1.5 per cent. The bullish sentiment was prompted by indications that US interest rates are set to remain at a historic low in the near-term. Meanwhile, the Australian dollar rose to $US0.9423 and the yield on 10-year government bonds fell by two per cent. George Clapham of Arnhem Investment Management cautions that economic data in China will remain the key influence on the Australian sharemarket

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX ALL ORDINARIES INDEX, ARNHEM INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, BANK OF ENGLAND, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL OPEN MARKET COMMITTEE, WILSON HTM LIMITED, MLC LIMITED, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

Ban on financial fees

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 and 4 : 20-Jun-14

The Australian Government will wind back key measures of the Future of Financial Advice reforms, including the requirement that financial planners must act in the best interest of clients. Planners will also be barred from receiving up-front or trailing commissions for providing general advice to clients, while the requirement that clients must "opt-in" to receive financial advice will also be scrapped

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, INDUSTRY SUPER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN CONSUMERS’ ASSOCIATION, NATIONAL SENIORS AUSTRALIA LIMITED, COUNCIL ON THE AGEING

Private equity firms sound out Ten

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Original article by Sarah Thompson, James Chessell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 23-Jun-14

Insiders claim struggling Australian free-to-air TV group Ten Network’s board and management are keen to see it delisted. Some four tenths of its issued scrip is already held by just four major investors, in the shape of Lachlan Murdoch, James Packer, Gina Rinehart and Bruce Gordon. There are now rumours that US-based Providence Equity Partners is interested in taking Ten private, and has held talks with it. The media company has recruited law firm Gilbert + Tobin and investment bank City as advisers on any sale plans

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, GILBERT AND TOBIN LAWYERS, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, PROVIDENCE EQUITY PARTNERS INCORPORATED, FOX TELEVISION STATIONS INCORPORATED, 21ST CENTURY FOX INCORPORATED, CBS CORPORATION, CROWN RESORTS LIMITED – ASX CWN, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, CONSOLIDATED MEDIA HOLDINGS LIMITED, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS

NAB’s UK exit plan buoyed by TSB surge

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Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 21 : 23-Jun-14

Lloyds Banking in the UK has successfully hived off its TSB business, which now has a market capitalisation of Stg1.3bn ($A2.35bn). The issue price per share was Stg2.60, but on the listing date of 20 June 2014 the stock closed at $A2.90. Lloyds also said that the initial public offering was 10 times oversubscribed. The news is a boost to the plans of National Australia Bank for selling off its under-performing Clydesdale Bank assets in the UK. Clydesdale has achieved a turnaround as well, to record a March 2013 half-year profit after problem debts declined

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, CLYDESDALE BANK PLC, TSB GROUP PLC, LLOYDS BANKING GROUP PLC, BANK OF ENGLAND, GRUPO SANTANDER, VIRGIN MONEY LIMITED, VIRGIN MONEY PERSONAL FINANCE SERVICE LIMITED, ALDERMORE BANK PLC, SHAWBROOK BANK LIMITED

Banks still protected from start-ups

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Original article by Shaun Drummond
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 6/19/2014

Banks have spent billions on technology, but they are still vulnerable to competition from start-ups in the field of new banking technologies. The issue was discussed at a forum held in Sydney on 17 June 2014. Paul Bassat, co-founder of SEEK and Square Peg Capital, said that start-ups were particularly active in developing new technologies that facilitate payments and peer-to-peer lending. The position of banks is however so strong that disruption in the banking sector is not an immediate issue

CORPORATES
SEEK LIMITED – ASX SEK, SQUARE PEG CAPITAL PTY LTD, ATLASSIAN SOFTWARE SYSTEMS PTY LTD, MACQUARIE BANK LIMITED – ASX MBL, KOGAN TECHNOLOGIES PTY LTD, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN, PAYPAL INCORPORATED, TYRO PAYMENTS

Fraudulent transactions on lost or stolen cards on the increase

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Original article by Shaun Drummond
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 18-Jun-14

Data from the Australian Payments Clearing Association shows that 162,896 transactions were made using lost or stolen credit cards in 2013, which is 94 per cent higher than previously. The amount of money lost through card fraud rose by 16 per cent to $A304m, including some $A219.7m worth of fraudulent transactions that were carried out online. So-called "skimming" of credit cards cost $A37.2m in 2013

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PAYMENTS CLEARING ASSOCIATION LIMITED, MASTERCARD AUSTRALIA LIMITED, VICTORIA POLICE, UNIVERSITY OF CANBERRA. CENTRE FOR INTERNET SAFETY