K62 Finance

NAB and ANZ promise to be up front with employees over looming job cuts

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 16-Nov-17

National Australia Bank expects voluntary redundancies and natural attrition to account for many of the 6,000 jobs it intends to shed over the next several years. CEO Andrew Thorburn has stressed the need for NAB to be completely open with staff regarding its cost-cutting strategy and the impact of technology on the sector. Kath Bray of the ANZ Bank has expressed a similar view, noting that staff have been fully informed of the kind of skills it requires in a downsized workforce. ANZ has shed more than 5,000 employees in the last two years.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NABAUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZAUSTRALIAN BANKERS’ ASSOCIATION

Stalled wages hit rate rise outlook

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 19 & 29 : 16-Nov-17

The Australian dollar fell to a four-month low in local trading on 15 November, after the latest wage price index data prompted financial markets to reduce expectations of a rise in official interest rates in 2018. The data shows that wages growth was below forecasts at just 0.5 per cent in the September quarter, while annual growth in wages was two per cent. Tom ­Kennedy of JP Morgan notes that wages growth was expected to be higher in the quarter due to a 3.3 per cent increase in the minimum wage.

CORPORATES
JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITEDAUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICSRESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIANATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NABAUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZCAPITAL ECONOMICS LIMITEDWESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBCUNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE. INSTITUTE OF APPLIED ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH

Bank testing AI to monitor mood of staff and customers

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

Artificial intelligence technology may be utilised by Westpac in a number of areas of its business, including the monitoring of employees’ performance and assessing the capacity of mortgage borrowers to repay their loans. The AI-based cameras are also being evaluated in terms of their ability to assess the mood of employees based on their facial expressions. Westpac is also developing AI-based applications in partnership with companies such as Onboard Informatics and Hyper Anna.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBCONBOARD INFORMATICSHYPER ANNAALIBABA GROUP HOLDING LIMITED

NAB traders didn’t read swap rate rules

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 14-Nov-17

Former National Australia Bank trader Brock Johnson has admitted that he was not aware of the rules governing the bank bill swap rate (BBSW). NAB, like the ANZ Bank, has settled with the Australian Securities & Investments Commission over allegations that they tried to rig the BBSW, but ASIC is still pursuing its case against Westpac over the matter. Johnson has told the Federal Court that he had not read the Australian Financial Markets Association’s rules concerning the BBSW.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL MARKETS ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED

Signs of life in corporate investment: RBA

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Original article by David Rogers, James Glynn
The Australian – Page: 28 : 14-Nov-17

The Reserve Bank’s deputy governor Guy Debelle has told the UBS Australasia Conference that business investment outside of Australia’s mining sector has been stronger than official figures suggest in the last several years. He said the services sector in particular has recorded strong growth in capital investment, while there has also been an increase in public investment in infrastructure. Meanwhile, Debelle noted that a rise in the cash rate will be dependent on an increase in wages and inflation.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

RBA can just sit back and watch the Fed

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Original article by Karen Maley
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 13-Nov-17

The latest monetary policy statements of the Reserve Bank and the Federal Reserve used identical wording to describe the current state of the Australian and US economies. The Federal Reserve is widely tipped to increase official interest rates again in December, which will allow the Reserve Bank to observe the impact of a rate rise in a low-inflation, low wages growth environment before taking any action of its own. There is no pressing need for the Reserve Bank to act, given that the unemployment rate remains well above that of the US and is not expected to fall in the next two years.

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

CBA’s super shareholder to target director

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 18 : 13-Nov-17

AustralianSuper is believed to be planning to vote against the re-election of Andrew Mohl to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s board at its AGM on 16 November. Mohl, who is a member of the bank’s risk committee, is one of three directors who are seeking re-election. AustralianSuper’s opposition to his re-election is said to be in response to the CBA’s money-laundering scandal, which followed a number of other scandals at the bank in recent years. However, AustralianSuper will not vote against CBA’s remuneration report.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE

Growth hopes up as rates stay low

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Original article by David Uren
The Australian – Page: 2 : 8-Nov-17

Financial markets expect the Reserve Bank of Australia to leave official interest rates at 1.5 per cent until the second half of 2018, after it made no change to monetary policy on 7 November. RBA governor Philip Lowe noted that business conditions are improving, particularly the outlook for business investment in non-mining sectors of the economy. He also said growth in wages will remain low in the near-term but an upturn in the labour market will eventually have a flow-on effect, while he has forecast a further decline in the unemployment rate.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX

Westpac CEO says political consensus needed to lift business confidence

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Original article by James Eyers,James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 7-Nov-17

Westpac CEO Brian Hartzer has urged Australia’s politicians to find common ground on issues such as energy policy and infrastructure spending, so as to encourage business confidence. He made his remarks while announcing on 6 November that Westpac had recorded an annual profit of $A8.1 billion. Westpac predicts that Australian gross domestic product will grow by just 2.5 per cent in 2018, compared with forecast global growth of 3.5 per cent. Hartzer does not expect any change in interest rates for some time to come.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC,AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY,RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA,AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY,AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ,NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB

BoE raises rates for the first time in a decade, but the pound tumbles

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Original article by
abc.net au – Page: Online : 3-Nov-17

The British pound has fallen against the US and Australian currencies in response to the Bank of England’s decision to increase its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 0.5 per cent. It was the central bank’s first increase in official interest rates since 2007, and two members of its Monetary Policy Committee voted against a rate rise amid concerns about sluggish growth in wages and the economy.

CORPORATES
BANK OF ENGLAND, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK