K62 Finance

RBA to keep interest rates on hold until 2020: Macquarie

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 22-Jun-18

Macquarie Group economists Ric Deverell and Justin Fabo forecast that Australia’s unemployment rate will not fall below five per cent until 2020. They warn that "persistent" spare capacity in the economy will ensure that wages growth remains subdued in the near-term. As a result, they do not expect the Reserve Bank to tighten monetary policy until at least 2020. However, they note that a number of domestic and international factors could affect the timing of an interest rate rise.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG

Murray warns bank inquiry on dangers of over-reach

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 2 : 20-Jun-18

David Murray has cautioned the banking royal commission against recommending onerous sanctions against financial services providers in response to misconduct in the sector. He will use a speech on 20 June to warn that excessive regulation of lenders and financial advisers could force borrowers to seek loans from unregulated providers. Murray, who headed the federal government’s financial system inquiry, will also advocate retention of the vertically integrated model for the financial services industry.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN AUSTRALIA

Fed hikes put squeeze on banks

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Original article by Karen Maley
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 28 : 15-Jun-18

The US Federal Reserve has signalled that two more interest rate increases are likely in 2018, following its second rate rise for the year. The new target range for the federal funds rate is between 1.75% and 2%, while the Reserve Bank of Australia has kept its cash rate at 1.5% for almost two years. The divergence in monetary policy has coincided with rising wholesale borrowing costs for Australia’s major banks, as well as a recent spike in the bank bill swap rate. Shane Oliver of AMP says local banks could potentially respond by increasing their mortgage rates on investment and interest-only loans.

CORPORATES
UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, FINANCIAL STABILITY BOARD, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, SOCIETE GENERALE SA, BNP PARIBAS SA, GRUPO SANTANDER

Labor credit report delay will entrench banks: Fintechs

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 15-Jun-18

The CEOs of five financial technology lenders have urged shadow treasurer Chris Bowen to reconsider Labor’s push for a key part of the comprehensive credit reporting regime to be delayed for 12 months. The CCR regulations are slated to take effect on 1 July, but Labor has advocated deferring the reporting of repayment history information for a year. The CEOs of SocietyOne, RateSetter, MoneyPlace, Harmoney and WISR have warned that such a delay will allow the major banks to retain their competitive advantage.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, SOCIETYONE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, RATESETTER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MONEYPLACE PTY LTD, HARMONEY LIMITED, WISR LIMITED – ASX WZR

Big four return fire on business lending

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Original article by James Frost, James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 13-Jun-18

Australia’s major banks have used submissions to the banking royal commission’s third round of hearings to refute suggestions that they had engaged in serious misconduct. Some of the banks acknowledged that they had breached the code of banking practice with regard to small business lending, but they maintained that such transgressions were relatively minor and did not constitute a breach of the law.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, 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, FINANCIAL OMBUDSMAN SERVICE LIMITED, PIE FACE PTY LTD

Westpac ends referral deal with Prospa

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 28 : 12-Jun-18

Westpac has terminated a referral arrangement with fintech Prospa that it established in 2015. The arrangement saw Westpac refer customers that did not meet its lending criteria to Prospa; it is understood that not many referrals had been made under the agreement. The ending of the agreement is seen as being prompted by Westpac’s desire to increase the amount of unsecured loans it makes to small businesses, and comes after Prospa postponed plans to list on the Australian sharemarket.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, PROSPA GROUP LIMITED ASX PGL, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, MYOB GROUP LIMITED – ASX MYO, LIBERTY FINANCE PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, FINTECH AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE AUSTRALIAN SMALL BUSINESS AND FAMILY ENTERPRISE OMBUDSMAN

Fears as problem loans increase

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 23 : 8-Jun-18

There was an increase in the number of borrowers falling behind on their mortgage repayments in the six months to March. This suggests that there are still "tail risks" within the housing sector, despite efforts by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority to crack down on riskier types of loans. Standard & Poor’s has stated that banks may tighten their lending standards as a result of the banking royal commission, and that this may make it harder for households that are trying to refinance their mortgage.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, STANDARD AND POOR’S (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED, SHAW AND PARTNERS LIMITED, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Banks to remain a drag on bourse, says brokers

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 30 : 8-Jun-18

Shares in Australian banks could come under further downward pressure in coming weeks as a result of tax-loss selling before the end of the financial year. David Cassidy of UBS warns that there is little prospect of a rebound in banks’ earnings in the near-term, and investors should retain "underweight" positions with regard to the sector. Richard Wiles of Morgan Stanley is also bearish about the sector, and recently downgraded share price targets for the sector by an average of seven per cent.

CORPORATES
UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, ORGANISATION OF PETROLEUM EXPORTING COUNTRIES, RETAIL FOOD GROUP LIMITED – ASX RFG, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, AUSTRALIAN PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES LIMITED – ASX API, PERPETUAL LIMITED – ASX PPT, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, ISENTIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX ISD, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, QBE INSURANCE (INTERNATIONAL) LIMITED, EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK, CHICAGO BOARD OPTIONS EXCHANGE VOLATILITY INDEX

Prospa float postponed by ASIC probe

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 16 : 7-Jun-18

Fintech company Prospa Group was slated to make its sharemarket debut on 6 June, but the listing has been delayed for 48 hours. Prospa has advised that the Australian Securities & Investments Commission has raised concerns about some aspects of its business loans contracts. The average annual interest rate of Prospa’s loans is 41 per cent, which has been criticised by Council of Small Business of Australia CEO Peter Strong. Prospa anticipates a default ratio of about one in every 20 customers.

CORPORATES
PROSPA GROUP LIMITED – ASX PGL, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, COUNCIL OF SMALL BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MACQUARIE CAPITAL PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, FIELD RESEARCH PTY LTD, FINTECH AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN FINANCE INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE AUSTRALIAN SMALL BUSINESS AND FAMILY ENTERPRISE OMBUDSMAN, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, AUSTRALIAN BANKERS’ ASSOCIATION

Formula behind CBA’s record $700m penalty revealed

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 7-Jun-18

Documents submitted to the Federal Court show that the Commonwealth Bank’s flawed rollout of its intelligent ATMs accounted for $A180m of the $A700m fine that it received for breaching anti-money-laundering and terrorism financing laws. The bank was also fined $A170m for failing to undertake sufficient due diligence on customers who were subsequently found to have been drug traffickers or terrorists. Other penalties included a $A125m fine for failing to provide Austrac with more than 55,000 threshold transaction reports in a timely manner.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, WESTERN AUSTRALIAN POLICE SERVICE, NEW SOUTH WALES POLICE FORCE