K62 Finance

NAB admits to breaking law once a week

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 15-Aug-18

A document released by the banking royal commission show that National Australia Bank breached the terms of its financial services licence a total of 297 times between 2014 and 2017. Some 110 of these breaches were deemed to be serious, yet the majority of them were not reported to the corporate regulator within 10 days. The document also shows that 84 per cent of the significant breaches that were not reported within the required time-frame occurred during the 2014-15 financial year.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS AUSTRALIA (INTERNATIONAL) PTY LTD

CBA’s 15,000 crimes waved on by APRA

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Original article by Ben Butler, Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 18 & 23 : 15-Aug-18

The banking royal commission has been told that the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority did not pursue action against Colonial First State over its tardiness in transitioning customers to MySuper products. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia subsidiary had been required to shift clients to the low-fee accounts by the start of 2014. However, it did not do so for more than three years. CBA admitted to over 15,000 breaches of the Superannuation Industry Supervision Act, but rather than impose fines, APRA approved a plan to gradually transition CFS clients to MySuper accounts.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, COLONIAL FIRST STATE GROUP LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, AUSSIE HOME LOANS LIMITED, COUNT FINANCIAL LIMITED, FINANCIAL WISDOM LIMITED

NAB hid compo from ASIC

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Original article by Ben Butler, Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 17 & 21 : 14-Aug-18

National Australia Bank’s Andrew Hagger has denied allegations that it withheld information on compensation payments from the Australian Securities & Investments Commission. He told the banking royal commission that he had been "open and transparent" with ASIC commissioner Greg Tanzer in a telephone conversation on 24 October 2016, several hours after NAB’s wealth unit passed a resolution to increase compensation over its plan service fee. NAB released its financial results three days later, the same day on which ASIC released a report on the fees-for-no-service scandal.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, NATIONAL WEALTH MANAGEMENT SERVICES LIMITED, NULIS NOMINEES AUSTRALIA LIMITED

RBA’s Lowe has his share of doubters

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Original article by Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 32 : 10-Aug-18

The Reserve Bank of Australia has not increased the official cash rate since November 2010, but governor Philip Lowe indicated on 8 August that it may not be long before it has to lift rates. An increase in interest rates would mean that the RBA felt that its inflation target of 2.5 per cent might be not be far off being reached, but some economists are not so certain about this, given the experience of economies in other parts of the world.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG

NAB chief insists acts not a crime

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 10-Aug-18

The banking royal commission has heard that National Australia Bank is being investigated over more than 100 alleged breaches of the law. The alleged breaches relate to actions by its superannuation and wealth management units, with the investigations being carried out by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission. NAB CEO Andrew Thornburn says that it does not consider that the alleged claims against it amounted to criminal breaches, and he is absolutely certain that they were not criminal acts.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, MLC LIMITED, AMCOR LIMITED – ASX AMC, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, SOUTH32 LIMITED – ASX S32, CARLTON AND UNITED BREWERIES

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

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

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

Slowly but surely, the RBA is turning positive

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 27 : 8-Aug-18

As expected, the Reserve Bank of Australia left interest rates on hold at 1.5 per cent on 7 August, marking two years since its last change in monetary policy. The RBA has maintained its guidance for economic growth in 2018 and 2019, while it expects the unemployment rate to ease to around five per cent over the next several years. The central bank has also indicated that although wages growth is likely to remain low, it should rise over time due to the improvement in the domestic economy.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

NAB’s fee strategy in spotlight

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Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 7-Aug-18

The banking royal commission has been told that National Australia Bank retained "grandfathered" commissions after merging five separate superannuation funds in 2016. A former NAB executive, Paul Carter, told the inquiry that the bank had been concerned about the impact that abolishing the commissions would have on revenue, as financial planners could potentially have responded to the move by directing clients to other products. The inquiry was also told that NAB failed to inform clients that they could opt out of paying a "plan service fee".

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, MLC LIMITED, MLC MASTERKEY, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, NULIS