K62 Finance

Inflation data will be key to whether Fed can hike

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Original article by Brian Chappatta
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 7-Aug-17

New data shows that a higher-than-expected 209,000 jobs were created in the US during July, while the unemployment rate was at a 16-year low. However, the upcoming release of US inflation data is likely to influence the timing of any change in monetary policy by the Federal Reserve. Bill Gross of the Janus Henderson Global Unconstrained Bond Fund says the central bank is unlikely to increase short-term interest rates until the core inflation rate rises to its target of two per cent.

CORPORATES
UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, JANUS HENDERSON GLOBAL UNCONSTRAINED BOND FUND, BMO CAPITAL MARKETS, BANK OF AMERICA CORPORATION, TD SECURITIES, FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF NEW YORK, FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF MINNEAPOLIS

CBA faces laundering rap

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 12 : 4-Aug-17

AUSTRAC has accused the Commonwealth Bank of Australia of not being in compliance with money-laundering regulations, and has launched legal action against it in the Federal Court. AUSTRAC contends that the CBA has not properly monitored or reported large cash transactions being made through its ATMs. AUSTRAC has stated that there have been 53,700 occasions since 2012 when the $A10,000 threshold above which transactions must be disclosed were exceeded, but they were either not reported to AUSTRAC or were not reported in time for it to take action. A maximum penalty of $A18 million applies to each incident of non-compliance with disclosure rules.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, BNP PARIBAS SA

Banks growl at BEAR necessities

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 26 : 2-Aug-17

Australian banks have expressed concern about the Federal Government’s proposed Banking Executive Accountability Regime. Criticisms include the lack of sufficient industry consultation and the fact that while non-bank financial services providers such as insurers will be excluded from the regime, it will apply to such businesses that are owned by banks. The Australian Bankers’ Association has also questioned the length of consultation period, although it is generally supportive of the push to increase the accountability of bank executives.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BANKERS’ ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, CUSTOMER OWNED BANKING ASSOCIATION

Rising dollar a threat to economy: RBA

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Original article by James Glynn
The Australian – Page: 27 : 2-Aug-17

The Reserve Bank still expects GDP growth to return to three per cent and inflation to rise to within its target range. However, these forecasts are being hindered by the continued strength of the Australian dollar, which has been noted by central bank governor Philip Lowe. He is upbeat about the outlook for the labour market, forecasting that the unemployment rate will ease in the next several years. Meanwhile, Michael Blythe of the Commonwealth Bank expects the cash rate to remain on hold until at least late 2018.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH SECURITIES LIMITED

ANZ restructure raises union fears of significant job losses

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman, James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 16 : 1-Aug-17

ANZ Bank CEO Shayne Elliott will emphasis on 1 August 2017 via a video to all staff that its Australasian focus is on retail customers and on corporate customers in Asia. The video will follow on from a message sent by Elliott on the previous day in which he called for changes to ANZ’s work practices and flexibility. Julia Angrisano of the Finance Sector Union says it is concerned that what appears to be a major reorganisation by ANZ will lead to job cuts at the bank.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, FINANCE SECTOR UNION, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, ST GEORGE BANK LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG

Residential lending hits record levels

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Original article by Duncan Hughes
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 1-Aug-17

Reserve Bank of Australia figures show that there was a 7.4 per cent increase in mortgage loans to property investors in the year to June 2017. This compares with an increase of 6.2 per cent in loans to owner-occupiers. Overall, a record $A1.69 trillion worth of mortgages were active at the end of June. Martin North of Digital Finance Analytics said the figures suggest that regulatory attempts to cool the residential property market do not seem to have had any impact yet.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, DIGITAL FINANCE ANALYTICS, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, ME BANK, BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ, MACQUARIE BANK LIMITED – ASX MBL, CANSTAR PTY LTD, MORTGAGE CHOICE LIMITED – ASX MOC, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

Mortgage stress growing: ME Bank

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 31-Jul-17

Almost 50 per cent of Australian mortgage holders are spending more than 30 per cent of their pre-tax income on repayments, according to a survey by ME Bank. It also found that borrowers are less confident than they were six months ago about their ability to meet minimum mortgage repayments, with investors more pessimistic than owner-occupiers. Similarly, borrowers are less confident than when previously surveyed about their ability to repay more than the minimum amount on their mortgage.

CORPORATES
ME BANK, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

Cyber crooks selling forged CBA statements for just $6

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Original article by Duncan Hughes
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 28-Jul-17

Identity theft is growing at 80 per cent per annum according to Equifax, while fake Commonwealth Bank and Westpac bank statements can be acquired on the "dark web" for as little as $A6. Spokespersons for both banks state that they have a range of technologies and monitoring activities in place aimed at preventing the theft of customer data. Identity thieves can use false bank statements for any number of purposes, including setting up other bank accounts and earning identity points to acquire drivers’ licences and other official documents.

CORPORATES
EQUIFAX INCORPORATED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, COLONIAL FIRST STATE INVESTMENTS LIMITED, THE PERSONNEL RISK MANAGEMENT GROUP PTY LTD, PHARMACYID PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD

RBA rate hike hopes fade as Aussie bumps past US80c

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Original article by Vesna Poljak
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 28-Jul-17

The Australian dollar reached a new two-year high of US0.8043 during intra-day trading on 27 July, compared with $US0.76 at the start of the month. The currency rallied after the US Federal Reserve left interest rates on hold, and Charlie Jamieson of Jamieson Coote Bonds says a US rate rise in September is looking increasingly unlikely, while a rise in Australia’s cash rate will also be off the agenda in the near-term. Meanwhile, Westpac estimates that the Australian dollar’s fair value is around $US0.76 to $US0.77.

CORPORATES
UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL OPEN MARKET COMMITTEE, JAMIESONCOOTEBONDS PTY LTD, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, COLONIAL FIRST STATE GLOBAL ASSET MANAGEMENT, FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF ATLANTA

‘Dangerous’ bank levy may have domino effect: Bligh

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Original article by David Crowe, Andrew White
The Australian – Page: 17 & 21 : 27-Jul-17

Australian Bankers’ Association CEO Anna Bligh has expressed concern that more state governments could implement their own version of the federal levy on banks. The levy is intended to boost government revenue by $A6.2bn, but Bligh has told the National Press Club that this impost could double if all states introduced their own levy. Bligh also supports Peter Costello’s call for banking industry executives to justify their high salaries, while she has questioned whether a royal commission into banks – as advocated by Labor – is appropriate and necessary.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BANKERS’ ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. FUTURE FUND MANAGEMENT AGENCY, NATIONAL PRESS CLUB (AUSTRALIA), SOUTH AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE