K62 Finance

ACCC under fire as ANZ cartel charges reduced

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Original article by Charlotte Grieve
Brisbane Times – Page: Online : 19-Aug-21

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission is under scrutiny over its role in prosecuting a cartel case against the ANZ Bank, Citigroup and Deutsche Bank. The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions recently dropped all charges against Citi Australia’s former head Stephen Roberts, plus a number of charges against the other five bank executives involved in the case. However, the DPP wants to re-interview JP Morgan bankers who were given immunity from prosecution by the ACCC in return for providing evidence in the case. Sources have claimed that the JP Morgan witnesses are "fast becoming discredited".

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

ANZ acts to halt fall in home lending

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Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 17 : 19-Aug-21

The ANZ Bank has revealed that its home loan book fell by $300m during the June quarter, to $280bn. Mortgage lending grew by $16.2bn for the period, but there was a $16.5bn increase in customers paying off their loans amid record low interest rates. Meanwhile, the bank has disclosed that 1,300 of its mortgage customers were still on deferred repayment plans during the quarter, which equates to just 0.2 per cent of its mortgage book. Likewise, only 50 business loans were deferred during the quarter, compared with 24,000 in 2020-21.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

NAB’s doubling down on credit cards boosts retail banking arm

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Original article by Cliona O’Dowd, John Durie
The Australian – Page: 17 : 11-Aug-21

National Australia Bank CEO Ross McEwan says the deal to buy Citigroup’s Australian consumer banking division will provide NAB with scale and expertise in unsecured lending, particularly in the credit card market. However, Morgan Stanley has questioned the merits of NAB’s push to expand in the consumer unsecured lending market, which is occurring at a time when younger Australians in particular are shunning credit cards in favour of ‘buy now, pay later’ services. Ord Minnett has in turn warned of the material risk that the transaction will be blocked by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, ORD MINNETT GROUP LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

CBA buyback tipped as earnings swell

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian – Page: 18 : 9-Aug-21

The consensus of analysts polled by Bloomberg is for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia to post a 2020-21 cash profit of $8.62bn. This compares with $7.2bn for the previous financial year. CBA’s dividend payout for the full year is expected to be $3.427 per share, with investors having received an interim dividend of $1.50. Meanwhile, Brian Johnson of Jefferies expects CBA to return surplus capital to investors via a $5.5bn off-market buyback. National Australia Bank and the ANZ Bank both recently announced buybacks.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, JEFFERIES AND COMPANY, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Dodgy advice refunds hit $1.86bn

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Original article by Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 17 : 6-Aug-21

The fee-for-no-service scandal has now cost six of Australia’s biggest financial institutions more than $1.6bn in total. New data from the Australian Securities & Investments Commission shows that the four major banks, Macquarie Group and AMP paid out an additional $620.9m during the first six months of 2021. They have also paid out $224.6m in total to customers who received non-compliant financial advice. It has also been alleged that about 2,000 of AMP’s customers had continued to be charged fees after the institution was informed that they had died.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION

Reserve Bank sticks to the plan despite Covid resurgence

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 15 & 20 : 4-Aug-21

The Reserve Bank of Australia has confirmed that it still intends to reduce its weekly bond-buying program from $5bn to $4bn in early September, following its latest monthly board meeting. Westpac’s chief economist Bill Evans says the decision was surprising, given that the RBA had consistently reiterated that its quantitative easing program would be guided by factors such as the economic outlook and the COVID-19 pandemic. The central bank has conceded that the economy is likely to contract in the September quarter, due to the impact of lockdowns. The RBA has also reiterated its view that the cash rate will not rise until inflation is ‘sustainably’ within its target range of 2-3 per cent.

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

Regulate Apple Pay, says CBA

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 22 : 28-Jul-21

Commonwealth Bank CEO Matt Comyn appeared before the parliamentary joint committee on corporations and financial services on 27 July. He told the committee that Apple Pay is now an essential service in the payments system and should therefore be subject to greater regulation, given that access to the iPhone’s near-field communication chip is restricted solely to Apple’s own digital wallet. Tom Leuner from the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission also noted that restrictions on access to the chip could potentially raise competition concerns. Some 9,000 banks worldwide now use Apple Pay, including Australia’s four major banks.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY JOINT COMMITTEE ON CORPORATIONS AND FINANCIAL SERVICES, APPLE INCORPORATED, APPLE PAY, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

RBA may rethink tapering as lockdowns bite

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 19 : 21-Jul-21

The Reserve Bank of Australia recently signalled that it will begin scaling back its bond-buying program in September, amid the nation’s stronger-than-expected economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. However, economists at a number of banks anticipate that the potential economic impact of the latest wave of lockdowns will prompt the central bank to delay plans to slash its bond-buying program by $1bn a week. Gareth Aird from the Commonwealth Bank says the RBA could potentially start to reduce its bond purchases in November.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, COMMS GROUP LIMITED – ASX CCG

SMEs squirrel away cash in crisis: ANZ

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Original article by Jared Lynch
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 19-Jul-21

ANZ Bank’s CEO Shayne Elliott says the amount of cash held in bank deposits has surged during the last year, with small businesses and consumers opting to save during the COVID-19 pandemic. He notes that small businesses in particular are opting to save at an "unprecedented rate", adding that this trend could have a slight negative impact on the national economy. However, Elliott says increased savings means that small businesses are in a much stronger position during the current lockdowns compared with 2020.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

NAB eyes Citi’s retail in $2b deal

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 14-Jul-21

National Australia Bank has emerged as a potential buyer of Citigroup’s local consumer banking business. NAB has advised that it is holding talks with Citigroup but stresses that a deal may not eventuate. Citigroup has an 11 per cent share of Australia’s credit card market, making it the fifth-biggest player in the sector, while it holds $5.5bn worth of household deposits and some $6.6bn worth of home loans. Australian Competition & Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims recently indicated that it would closely scrutinise any bid for the Citigroup assets by one of the nation’s major banks.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION