K62 Finance

NAB sued over hardship silence

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Original article by David Ross
The Australian – Page: 15 & 19 : 19-Nov-24

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission has launched legal action against the National Australia Bank, alleging it breached its requirements to fairly deal with customers suffering financial hardship. ASIC claims the NAB failed to respond to at least 345 customers seeking help from it over several years, including people suffering medical emergencies and people fleeing domestic violence. The case against the NAB follows a similar case against Westpac, and ASIC chair Joe Longo noted it was a "sign of the times", with tougher economic conditions resulting in the financial sector having to deal with a rise in hardship cases.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC

Young Australians cut back in cost-of-living crisis while older people shop more, data shows

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Original article by Catie McLeod
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 19-Nov-24

Analysis of the de-identified payments of about seven million Commonwealth Bank customers has revealed that 18- to 29-year-olds reduced their spending in the September quarter by 2% when compared to the same period in 2023. Spending by people aged between 30 and 39 was also down when compared to the same period in 2023, but spending by people aged 60 to 69 was up by 3.9% overall, while over-70s increased their spending by 7.7%. Wade Tubman from the CBA said the differences in spending between younger and older Australians was in contrast to the period immediately after the pandemic, when younger people were quicker to start going out and spent more than older people.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA

Risk of mortgage stress eases for third straight month

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 24-Oct-24

New research from Roy Morgan shows that 1,724,000 mortgage holders (28.3%) were ‘At Risk’ of ‘mortgage stress’ in September 2024. This represents a decrease of 0.2% points on the June figures, prior to the Stage 3 tax cuts that increased household income for millions of Australians. However, modelling by Roy Morgan shows that the number of mortgages ‘At Risk’ will increase to new record highs in November and December if the RBA raises interest rates by 25 basis points in both months. The number of Australians ‘At Risk’ of mortgage stress has increased by 917,000 since May 2022, when the RBA began a cycle of interest rate increases. Meanwhile, the number of mortgage holders considered to be ‘Extremely At Risk’ of mortgage stress is now numbered at 1,082,000 (18.3% of mortgage holders), which is significantly above the long-term average over the last 10 years of 14.6%. These are the latest findings from Roy Morgan’s Single Source Survey, based on in-depth interviews conducted with over 60,000 Australians each year, including over 10,000 owner-occupied mortgage-holders.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Industry calls for more changes than just axing debit card fees

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Original article by David Ross, David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 13 & 19 : 16-Oct-24

The Reserve Bank of Australia has confirmed that it will investigate the regulation of the payments system, in the wake of the federal government’s proposal to ban debit card surcharges by 2026. Amongst other things, the RBA has indicated that its review will examine the costs that merchants incur when they accept card payments, and whether its surcharging framework is still ‘fit for purpose’. The Australian Banking Association’s CEO Anna Bligh argues that abolishing debit card surcharges would be a "win for consumers", although some observers contend that broader reform is needed.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BANKING ASSOCIATION

CBA trials AI to replace local call centre staff

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Original article by Paul Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 17-Sep-24

The Commonwealth Bank is trialling a ChatGPT-style platform called Hey CommBank, with a view to use it to potentially replace thousands of local call centre staff. CBA chief data and analytics officer Andrew McMullan says he expects there will come a time when its customers have become so used to using ChatGPT-style services that it will become the way that they interact with the bank, while Finance Sector Union assistant secretary Nicole McPherson has labelled the CBA’s plans to replace local call centre staff with its Hey CommBank platform as "disrespectful and tricky".

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, FINANCE SECTOR UNION

ANZ’s Elliott dismisses conspiracy theory

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Original article by Lucas Baird, Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 13-Sep-24

ANZ CEO Shayne Elliott has sought to downplay the impact of the scandal that has engulfed its trading room during a town hall meeting with the bank’s staff on Wednesday. The trading room is currently the subject of three separate investigations – the reporting of inflated data to a government agency, an investigation into its bond trading and allegations of serious workplace misconduct – with Elliott telling staff the ANZ’s view was that the three issues were unrelated. However, he said the media has speculated otherwise, and has "spun them into this big conspiracy theory".

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

The share of mortgage holders At Risk of mortgage stress fell in July after the Stage 3 tax cuts

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 28-Aug-24

New research from Roy Morgan shows that 1,604,000 mortgage holders (29.8%) were ‘At Risk’ of ‘mortgage stress’ in the three months to July 2024. This represents a decrease of 0.5% points on the June figures after the introduction of the Stage 3 tax cuts in July increased household income for millions of Australians, including many mortgage holders. The level of mortgage holders ‘At Risk’ of mortgage stress is set to fall further over the next few months. However, a reduction in mortgage stress will not happen if the Reserve Bank board decides to raise interest rates at its next meeting in September. The number of Australians ‘At Risk’ of mortgage stress has increased by 797,000 since May 2022, when the RBA began a cycle of interest rate increases. Meanwhile, the number of mortgage holders considered to be ‘Extremely At Risk’ of mortgage stress is now numbered at 982,000 (18.9% of mortgage holders), which is significantly above the long-term average over the last 10 years of 14.5%. These are the latest findings from Roy Morgan’s Single Source Survey, based on in-depth interviews conducted with over 60,000 Australians each year, including over 10,000 owner-occupied mortgage-holders.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Traders gird for dangerous 48 hours

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Original article by Sarah Jones
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 31-Jul-24

Bond market pricing suggests that there is about a 20 per cent chance that the Reserve Bank of Australia will increase the cash rate in August. The chances of a rate rise in September are now 31 per cent. Quarterly CPI data to be released on Wednesday is likely to be a key factor in the RBA’s monetary policy decision; the central bank’s preferred measure of trimmed mean inflation is tipped to ease from one per cent to 0.9 per cent. Investors will also be keenly awaiting the outcome of the US Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting, and signs that rate cuts are on its agenda in coming months.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD

Longo suspects ANZ broke law

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Original article by Ronald Mizen, Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 24-Jul-24

Australian Securities & Investments Commission chairman Joe Longo has responded to claims by ANZ CEO Shayne Elliott regarding the bank’s government bond scandal. Elliott said ANZ does not believe that there was any wrongdoing on its part, and ASIC has simply asked it to "please explain" some "unusual activity" in the bond market in April 2023. However, Longo says it is on the public record that ASIC is investigating the bond trades, adding that this means by definition that the corporate regulator suspects a breach of the law. Longo has also advised that ASIC has established a dedicated insider trading team.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION

ASIC warned over ANZ-AOFM probe

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Original article by David Ross
The Australian – Page: 15 & 19 : 23-Jul-24

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission is investigating allegations that ANZ traders manipulated a $14 billion placement of federal government securities in April 2023. ANZ only informed investors in May that it was facing an investigation by ASIC, but documents obtained under a Freedom of Information request show that the Australian Office of Financial Management shared over 20 documents concerning the ANZ with ASIC between Jaunary and May; one of the documents reveals that ASIC demanded information about past risk manager reports on 29 January.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY. OFFICE OF FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT