K: Financial and Insurance Services

ASIC eyes case against CBA board

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Original article by Anne Hyland
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 12 : 11-Aug-17

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission may be contemplating action against Commonwealth Bank of Australia directors in regard to its money-laundering problems. Lawyers suggest that there could be certain areas that ASIC could focus on when considering such action, including the level of the CBA’s disclosure concerning AUSTRAC’s allegations against it. CBA chair Catherine Livingstone has been told that the Federal Government is still considering its options in regard to what actions to take against the bank.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, COMMINSURE, STORM FINANCIAL LIMITED, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE

Lacklustre earnings after alarm bells in July

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 27 : 11-Aug-17

The Australian sharemarket has not risen significantly so far in August 2017, despite some good results during the reporting season. Carsales.com and Orora are among the stocks to have rallied in the wake of positive earnings reports, while the Commonwealth Bank, AGL and AMP have been sold down. Karen Jorritsma of Citigroup notes that capital management has been a major influence on share price movements during the current reporting season.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, CARSALES.COM LIMITED – ASX CAR, ORORA LIMITED – ASX ORA, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, JAMES HARDIE INDUSTRIES PLC – ASX JHX, SKYCITY ENTERTAINMENT GROUP LIMITED – ASX SKC, TRANSURBAN GROUP LIMITED – ASX TCL, MAGELLAN FINANCIAL GROUP LIMITED – ASX MFG, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, MORGANS FINANCIAL LIMITED, PACIFIC INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT COMPANY LLC

Wall St record highs stumble on flare-up of North Korea tension

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Original article by Karen Maley
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 28 : 10-Aug-17

US share price indices have retreated and the Chicago Board Options Exchange’s volatility index has risen by more than 10 per cent in response to the latest war of words between President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un. However, some analysts had previously warned that the low level of the VIX suggested that financial market risk may be set to increase, and DoubleLine Capital’s Jeff Gundlach recently said that market indicators point to a rise in bond yields.

CORPORATES
DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE INDEX, STANDARD AND POOR’S 500 INDEX, CHICAGO BOARD OPTIONS EXCHANGE VOLATILITY INDEX, DOUBLELINE CAPITAL LP, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, UNITED NATIONS. SECURITY COUNCIL

Magellan’s new whale rebuffs LICs for trust

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Original article by Vesna Poljak
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 20 : 10-Aug-17

The Magellan Global Trust will seek to achieve an annual cash yield of four per cent. The trust, which is being listed by Magellan Financial Group, will be similar in structure to a real estate investment trust, although it will primarily invest in international shares. This investment trust model is widely used in the UK, although the listed investment company model tends to be favoured in Australia. The new trust is expected to have between 250,000 and 300,000 underlying investors.

CORPORATES
MAGELLAN FINANCIAL GROUP LIMITED – ASX MFG, MAGELLAN GLOBAL TRUST, CRICKET AUSTRALIA

CBA plots next move as ability to reprice fades

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Original article by James Frost, James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 19 : 10-Aug-17

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has increased its full-year dividend to $A4.29 per share after posting a 2016-17 cash profit of $A9.88bn. The result was 4.6 per cent higher than previously and slightly exceeded market expectations. Earnings per share grew by 3.6 per cent to $A5.74 and CBA’s net interest margin fell three basis points to 2.11 per cent. CBA has also advised that its common equity tier one capital ratio is now 10.1 per cent, and the bank expects to achieve the revised target of 10.5 per cent well before the start of 2020.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, PM CAPITAL LIMITED, PERENNIAL VALUE MANAGEMENT LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC

CBA tipped to grind out $9.8b profit

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 8-Aug-17

Analysts expect the Commonwealth Bank of Australia to post a cash profit of $A4.9bn for the second half of 2016-17, an increase of 5.8 per cent, and a full-year cash profit of $A9.8bn. The banking major’s provision for bad and doubtful debts is likely to remain largely unchanged, while its net interest margin is tipped to have declined by two basis points in the second half. CBA’s earnings guidance is likely to come under scrutiny in the wake of its money-laundering scandal, while the bank is forecast to increase its dividend for the second half to $A2.24 per share.

CORPORATES
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, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN

Morgan blasts Morrison’s bank tax as a grab for revenue

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 8-Aug-17

Former Westpac CEO David Morgan has dismissed claims by Treasurer Scott Morrison that the Australian Government’s levy on the nation’s five largest banks. levy will merely offset the implicit government guarantee on bank deposits. However, Morgan supports a regulatory push to ensure that banks are "unquestionably strong", but he notes that higher capital ratios are just one of the measures that are aimed at achieving this. The Chi-X Australia chairman adds that the stock exchange operator will begin offering transferable custody receipts to local investors in late 2017.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, CHI-X AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE, NASDAQ, JC FLOWERS AND COMPANY LLC, ASX LIMITED – ASX ASX, DIGITAL ASSET HOLDINGS, DEUTSCHE BANK AG

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

World shrugs off Dow high

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 19 & 31 : 4-Aug-17

Sharemarkets in Australia and Asia closed lower on 3 August, despite the Dow Jones Industrial Average reaching the 22,000-point milestone. The Dow Jones has gained 20 per cent since the US presidential election in November 2016, and much of this can be attributed to a rise in stocks that have exposure to global economic growth. However, the upbeat sentiment on Wall Street has not been reflected by the Dow Jones Transportation Average Index, which has fallen close to its 200-day moving average. A significant divergence between the two indices has often signalled a pullback in the past.

CORPORATES
DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE INDEX, DOW JONES TRANSPORTATION AVERAGE INDEX, SUNDIAL CAPITAL RESEARCH INCORPORATED, EDWARD JONES AND COMPANY, CMC MARKETS PTY LTD, STANDARD AND POOR’S 500 INDEX, APPLE INCORPORATED, BOEING COMPANY, McDONALD’S CORPORATION, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, KOSPI INDEX, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN