K: Financial and Insurance Services

CBA falls as legal costs take toll on profit

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 19 & 24 : 10-May-18

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has posted an underlying cash net profit of $A2.35bn for the March quarter, which is nine per cent lower than previously. CBA has advised of an increase in home loan, personal loan and credit card arrears during the period, while its expenses rose by three per cent. Meanwhile, CBA has agreed to pay fines totalling $A25m to settle allegations that it manipulated the bank bill swap rate.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, DIGITAL FINANCE ANALYTICS, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Budget won’t curb expansion: Credit Suisse

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 30 : 10-May-18

Hasan Tevfik of Credit Suisse says the Federal Government’s May 2018 Budget is unlikely to have a negative impact on corporate profits. He adds that the proposed tax cuts for people on low and middle incomes are relatively modest in comparison to Australia’s record level of household debt, and the tax cuts will result in only a small decline in the debt-to-disposable-income ratio in the next several years. Tevfik still expects the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 to reach 6,500 points by the end of 2018.

CORPORATES
CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, DOMINO’S PIZZA ENTERPRISES LIMITED – ASX DMP, HARVEY NORMAN HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX HVN, JB HI-FI LIMITED – ASX JBH, TABCORP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TAH, WAGNERS HOLDING COMPANY LIMITED – ASX WGN, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, CSL LIMITED – ASX CSL, TREASURY WINE ESTATES LIMITED – ASX TWE, TRANSURBAN GROUP LIMITED – ASX TCL, CHALLENGER LIMITED – ASX CGF, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, LINK ADMINISTRATION HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX LNK, IOOF HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX IFL, HEALTHSCOPE LIMITED – ASX HSO, PRIMARY HEALTH CARE LIMITED – ASX PRY, RAMSAY HEALTH CARE LIMITED – ASX RHC, SONIC HEALTHCARE LIMITED – ASX SHL, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

AMP reeling as more pull pin

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Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 1 & 16 : 9-May-18

Holly Kramer, Van­essa Wallace and Patty Akopiantz have resigned as directors of AMP in the wake of revelations that it charged fees for services that clients did not receive. Kramer and Wallace were seeking re-election at AMP’s AGM on 10 May, and sources within the financial services group have suggested that they were unlikely to gain another term on the board. Akopiantz is not standing for re-election, but she has agreed to step down at the end of 2018. Andrew Harmos is tipped to be re-elected at the AGM, although he is likely to face a backlash from investors.

CORPORATES
AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, SEEK LIMITED – ASX SEK, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF SUPERANNUATION INVESTORS INCORPORATED

Westpac anger at royal commission tactics

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 14 : 8-May-18

Westpac’s shares rose $A0.24 to $A29.34 on 7 May after the bank reported an interim cash profit of $A4.25 billion, up six per cent. In releasing its latest results, Westpac took the opportunity to criticise the banking royal commission’s release of documents that had been critical of its lending standards. CEO Brian Hartzer also took the opportunity to restate the bank’s commitment to its BT Financial Group wealth business, despite other banks having indicated their intention to exit the wealth management sector.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, BT FINANCIAL GROUP PTY LTD, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS AUSTRALIA (INTERNATIONAL) PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, BT INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED – ASX BTT, ALPHINITY INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT PTY LTD

ANZ scraps product-linked bonus score

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Original article by Alice Uribe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 19 : 7-May-18

The ANZ Bank has announced that it will sack financial planners who twice fail a compliance audit, as the banking royal commission continues to reverberate among Australia’s 25,000 financial planners. ANZ has also announced that it will abolish product-linked bonuses for its financial planners, with CEO Shayne Elliott stating that the problems that the royal commission has revealed regarding financial planners have been created by a structure that rewards them for selling products.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, IOOF HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX IFL

Bendigo Bank customers are most satisfied of the largest banks

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 7-May-18

New research from Roy Morgan shows that customer satisfaction with Australia’s banks in the six months to March 2018 was 80.9%, down from 81.0% in February. This level still represents a positive result when seen in the context of the long-term monthly average of 73.8% since 2001. Bendigo Bank retained the highest satisfaction rating among the 10 largest consumer banks with 87.5% (down slightly from 87.8% in February). BankWest showed the biggest improvement in satisfaction, up 0.9% to 84.6%, followed by ING (up 0.8% to 87.1%), St. George (up 0.7% to 84.6%) and ANZ (up 0.3% points to 78.7%).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, BENDIGO BANK, ING BANK (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, ST GEORGE BANK LIMITED, BANK OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

NAB joins bank retreat from wealth

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 20 : 4-May-18

National Australia Bank CEO Andrew Thorburn has refuted suggestions that its decision to sell the MLC wealth management unit has been prompted by the banking royal commission. However, he concedes that the commission’s revelations have meant that banks must change their approach to business. Thorburn also notes that the NAB is aware that it may not be able to sell MLC as a single unit if the commission decides that financial planners should no longer be able to work for businesses that manufacture investment and superannuation products.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, MLC LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NIPPON LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, CLIME ASSET MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, ONEPATH AUSTRALIA LIMITED, ZURICH FINANCIAL SERVICES AG, COLONIAL FIRST STATE GLOBAL ASSET MANAGEMENT, BT INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED – ASX BTT, JBWERE LIMITED, NABTRADE, GREAT WESTERN BANK, CLYDESDALE BANK PLC

Fed holds rates steady, June rise on cards

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Original article by Nick Timiraos
The Australian – Page: 34 : 4-May-18

Data from CME Group shows that most futures market traders expect the US Federal Reserve to increase interest rates in June, after the central bank left the cash rate on hold in May. However, futures traders rate the chances of monetary policy being tightened two more times beyond June at almost 50 per cent. The Federal Reserve has signalled that it will increase the cash rate gradually, despite recent data showing that inflation has reached its target of two per cent.

CORPORATES
UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, JP MORGAN CHASE AND COMPANY, DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE INDEX, NOMURA SECURITIES INTERNATIONAL INCORPORATED, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

CBA loses 12 million customer statements and keeps it secret

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Original article by
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 3-May-18

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has belatedly admitted that it misplaced data on the financial transactions of 19.8 million accounts. The data breach occurred in 2016, when a subcontractor lost tape drives that contained more than a decades’ worth of financial transactions. CBA has indicated that it notified regulators of the incident but decided that it did not need to inform customers of the breach.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, BUZZFEED PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE AUSTRALIAN INFORMATION COMMISSIONER

AMP rebuffed Mohl in choosing Brenner to fill chair

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Original article by Karen Maley
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 3-May-18

It has been revealed that AMP’s former CEO Andrew Mohl had approached acting chairman John Palmer about taking on the role of chairman following the sudden resignation of Simon McKeon in 2016. However, AMP’s board chose to appoint Catherine Brenner as chairman, and it did not even consider Mohl for the role. Brenner subsequently resigned in the wake of the banking royal commission’s revelations about misconduct at the financial services group.

CORPORATES
AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, AXA ASIA PACIFIC HOLDINGS LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, EGON ZEHNDER INTERNATIONAL, CLAYTON UTZ, BEST AND LESS PTY LTD