K: Financial and Insurance Services

Home loans break trillion dollar barrier

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 21 : 1-Nov-17

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has reported that the value of mortgage loans written for owner-occupiers rose by 0.5 per cent in September, to $A1.03bn. Meanwhile, there was 0.3 per cent growth across the mortgage lending sector during the month. Separate data from the Reserve Bank shows that there was 0.5 per cent growth in housing loans in September, while year-on-year growth rose from 6.4 per cent to 6.5 per cent. In contrast, annual growth in business lending was 4.3 per cent.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, DIGITAL FINANCE ANALYTICS, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, ME BANK, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Westpac takes on ASIC alone over rate rigging

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Original article by James Frost, Patrick Durkin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 31-Oct-17

Westpac has elected to let the courts decide whether allegations of rigging the bank bill swap rate have any foundation. National Australia Bank and the ANZ, which were also alleged by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission of rigging the BBSW, have agreed to a settlement over the issue. The case against Westpac will begin in the Federal Court on 31 October, with the case likely to run until the end of the year.

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

Future Fund’s Apple bite triples

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Original article by Vesna Poljak
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 31-Oct-17

The Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and the ANZ bank remained the top holdings of the Federal Government’s $A134.5bn Future Fund in 2016-17. National Australia Bank replaced Telstra as the sovereign wealth fund’s fourth-largest holding, while Apple rose from 86th to eighth position in the list of its top 100 holdings. New entrants to the list in 2016-17 include GGP, Amcor, Sydney Airport and JP Morgan.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FUTURE FUND MANAGEMENT AGENCY, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, APPLE INCORPORATED, GGP INCORPORATED, AMCOR LIMITED – ASX AMC, SYDNEY AIRPORT – ASX SYD, JP MORGAN AND COMPANY INCORPORATED, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, EQUITY RESIDENTIAL PROPERTIES TRUST, INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX IAG, MAGELLAN GLOBAL FUND, SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG, SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS COMPANY LIMITED, VISA INTERNATIONAL

Institutional investors buy back into rally

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 27 : 31-Oct-17

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index has gained 4.3 per cent so far in October, putting the local bourse on track for its best month since July 2016. Tony Brennan of Citigroup still expects the benchmark index to reach the 6,000-point level by the end of 2017. However, the market may face a number of headwinds. The S&P/ASX 200 Bank Index has risen by 3.5 per cent in October, but November is traditionally a bearish month for the sector. On the other hand, the resources sector is benefiting from the continued strength of commodity prices, while the growing prospect of tax cuts in the US should boost the earnings of companies with significant exposure to the US.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 BANKS INDEX

Westpac takes BBSW case down to the wire

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Original article by Sally Patten, Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 30-Oct-17

National Australia Bank has joined the ANZ Bank in reaching a settlement with the Australian Securities & Investments Commission over rate-rigging allegations. The NAB is understood to have agreed to make a total payment of $A50 million, of which $A10 million would be seen as a penalty and $A20 million would go towards ASIC’s legal costs. The remaining $A20 million would be donated to a consumer protection fund. Westpac, the third bank involved in the bank bill swap rate case, is believed to be still considering whether it should challenge ASIC’s allegations in court.

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

Citi predicts end of credit cards

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Original article by Karen Maley
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 30-Oct-17

Michael Corbat, the CEO of US bank Citigroup, forecasts that it will not be too long before digital payments and the like replace credit cards. Given that Citigroup is the largest issuer of credit cards in the world, it is important that it is well-positioned to be part of whatever replaces them. Asked whether he supports plans by the Trump administration to scale back some of the laws introduced in the wake of the global financial crisis, Corbat says it is the way the laws are administered that needs to change rather than the laws themselves.

CORPORATES
CITIGROUP INCORPORATED, SALOMON BROTHERS INCORPORATED, TRAVELLERS GROUP INCORPORATED

Size, target returns matter most for funds

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Original article by Sally Patten
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 30-Oct-17

Frontier Advisors has looked at four factors that are likely to determine a superannuation fund’s performance and compared to them to rates of returns over three years. The factors in question were fund size, fees, targeted return and level of risk taken. It concluded that funds that met the following criteria were most likely to achieve the best returns; they had assets of more than $A10 billion, charged mid-range fees and took mid-range risks, but aimed for higher target returns.

CORPORATES
FRONTIER ADVISORS PTY LTD

Watchdog backflips on super disclosure

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 22 : 27-Oct-17

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission has delayed the introduction of parts of its new fee disclosure rules for superannuation funds. ASIC has concluded that more work needs to be done on two elements of the rules, namely the treatment of investment platforms, and costs in relation to property investments. ASIC chairman Greg Medcraft said the rules as they had been originally proposed could have led to inconsistent treatment of asset classes, resulting in a less than "level playing field".

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, INDUSTRY SUPER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP

Elliott wary as ANZ profit surges 18pc

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 19 & 22 : 27-Oct-17

The ANZ Bank has posted a 2016-17 cash profit of $A6.9bn, which is 18 per cent higher than previously. Revenue was one per cent lower, and CEO Shayne Elliott notes that strong competition in the banking sector is making it harder to achieve revenue growth. He adds that ANZ will continue to closely monitor its mortgage book, given the rising levels of household debt and low growth in wages. Shareholders will receive a final dividend of $A0.80 share, and a full-year payout of $A1.60.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, IOOF HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX IFL, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, DIGITAL FINANCE ANALYTICS, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

QBE makes first insurtech play

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Original article by Alice Uribe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 27-Oct-17

QBE Insurance Group has invested in US artificial intelligence firm RiskGenius, with QBE executive Bob James saying it will help the insurer to develop new products more rapidly. The investment in RiskGenius is the first to be made via QBE’s $US50 million ($A64.85 million) "insurtech" fund. QBE CEO John Neal said at the time of the fund’s launch in March that its investments would focus on data analytics.

CORPORATES
QBE INSURANCE GROUP LIMITED – ASX QBE, RISKGENIUS, CB INSIGHTS