K62 Finance

Home loan arrears hit five-year high

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Original article by Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 19-Sep-17

The percentage of Australian mortgages on which a payment is more than 30 days overdue stood at 1.62 per cent in May 2017, according to Moody’s. This figure represents the highest level of mortgage arrears in five years, with arrear rates at record levels in South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Arrear rates declined in both New South Wales and Victoria.

CORPORATES
MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED, STANDARD AND POOR’S (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD

Small banks aim at APRA

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 18-Sep-17

Bank of Queensland CEO Jon Sutton says caps imposed by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority on investor lending make it hard for smaller banks to increase their market share. Bendigo & Adelaide Bank CEO Mike Hirst contends that APRA’s lending caps have required it to cut down on the number of loans it writes. Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen claims that the lines of responsibility between the various regulators of the financial services sector have become "blurred" in recent years.

CORPORATES
BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, ME BANK, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, ING BANK (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

ASIC still gathering evidence against CBA: Medcraft

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 21 : 15-Sep-17

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission will shortly commence legal action against three of the nation’s four major banks over allegation that they manipulated the bank bill swap rate. However, ASIC chairman Greg Medcraft has told parliament’s economics committee that it is still investigating the Commonwealth Bank over rigging of the BBSW. The bank is also being investigated by ASIC for possible breaches of its continuous disclosure obligations regarding the money-laundering scandal.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, 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, AUSTRALIA. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STANDING COMMITTEE ON ECONOMICS, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

King cash dethroned as cards lead a revolution at the till

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Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 23 : 15-Sep-17

The ­Reserve Bank of Australia’s latest triennial customer payments survey highlights the continuing decline in the use of cash as a payment option, in favour of debit and credit cards. The proportion of consumer transactions that were carried out with cash has fallen from 70 per cent in 2007 to just 37 per cent in fiscal 2016. However, cash remains the most popular payment option for transactions costing less than $A10, while cash is still widely used by older people. There was also a 20 per cent decline in payments via cheque in 2016-17.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Fees underpin Macquarie profit

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 21 : 12-Sep-17

Macquarie Group has advised that its profit for the first half of 2017-18 will be higher than previously due to an increase in performance fees. However, the investment bank has told an investor roadshow that it expects full-year profit to be similar to its $A2.22bn result for 2016-17. Macquarie’s earnings profile has benefited from the group’s increased focus on annuity-style operations, while the group has also highlighted its risk management practices.

CORPORATES
MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, THE GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INCORPORATED, HILL SAMUEL BANK

‘Liar loans’ pumped up house prices

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Original article by Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 12-Sep-17

UBS surveyed more than 900 Australian borrowers who had taken out a mortgage loan in the year to August 2017, finding that a third had not been truthful in terms of the information on their application. UBS states that the value of so-called "liar loans" is in excess of $A500 billion, and that these loans pose threats to both the banking sector and the overall economy. The ANZ Bank had the highest number of liar loans in the UBS survey, while respondents were most likely to have understated their expenses on their application.

CORPORATES
UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED, MORTGAGE AND FINANCE ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA

CBA eyes bond market return after scandal

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Original article by Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 11-Sep-17

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia may make a bond issue in the week beginning 11 September 2017. Australia’s large banks use such issues to help cover the gap between the amount of loans they have outstanding and the value of their deposits. If the CBA does proceed with the bond issue, it will be its first since AUSTRAC announced that it is taking legal action against it over alleged breaches of money-laundering regulations. The CBA raised around $A40 billion in fiscal 2017 from wholesale long-term debt.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, TRANSURBAN GROUP LIMITED – ASX TCL, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, MOODY’S ANALYTICS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ALTIUS ASSET MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL

Canada has hiked again – will the RBA follow?

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 28 : 8-Sep-17

Vimal Gor of BT Investment Management says the Bank of Canada’s decision to increase official interest rates for the second time in 2017 has no implications for the Reserve Bank of Australia. However, Annette Beacher of TD Securities says both central banks have expressed similar views on their nations’ respective economies in recent monetary policy statements. Canada and Australia both have low inflation, low growth in wages, high household debt and high exchange rates, but a key difference is Canada’s much stronger growth in real GDP.

CORPORATES
BANK OF CANADA, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, BT INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED – ASX BTT, TD SECURITIES, ALTIUS ASSET MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, BLOOMBERG LP

Funder backs CBA class action

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 23 : 6-Sep-17

Listed litigation fund IMF Bentham has agreed to provide financial backing for a proposed shareholder class action against the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. The major bank’s shares have shed more than 10 per cent since early August, when Austrac initiated legal action over the CBA’s failure to comply with money-laundering laws. The class action is being undertaken by law firm Maurice Blackburn, which estimates that CBA could face a potential payout of at least $A200m. CBA could also incur sanctions in other countries where it has a presence.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, IMF BENTHAM LIMITED – ASX IMF, MAURICE BLACKBURN PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, CLSA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC

Stability for Lowe’s first year at helm

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Original article by Philip Baker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 36 : 6-Sep-17

Official interest rates have remained unchanged at 1.5 per cent during Philip Lowe’s first year as Reserve Bank of Australia governor. In contrast, the cash rate rose by 0.5 per cent during the first 12 months’ tenure of his predecessor, Glenn Stevens. Meanwhile, the next change in monetary policy is likely to be a rise in interest rates, although a number of economic indicators suggest that rates may stay on hold until late 2018.

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