K: Financial and Insurance Services

ANZ-Suncorp deal no threat

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Original article by Glen Norris
The Australian – Page: 15 : 5-Dec-23

The ANZ Bank’s appeal against the blocking of its deal to buy Suncorp Bank continued before the Australian Competition Tribunal on Tuesday. Cameron Moore SC, who is representing Suncorp Group, contended that the $4.9bn deal would not undermine competition in the banking sector, as Suncorp Bank is a relatively small player that had until recently been losing market share in its home state of Queensland. He also argued that a merger between Suncorp Bank and Bendigo Bank would not make financial sense for shareholders of either company.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, SUNCORP BANK, AUSTRALIA. COMPETITION TRIBUNAL, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN

Westpac suffers online banking outage with customers shut out of accounts

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Original article by Martin Farrer
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 5-Dec-23

Westpac advised late on Monday evening that it was working to restore its mobile and online banking services following an outage that left customers unable to access their accounts. Westpac has attributed the outage which began at around 8pm to a ‘routine technology update’. Many people were unable to make payments via credit cards or mobile phone due to the outage, while others reported that they could log into Westpac’s platform but their accounts were missing. Some customers criticised Westpac for advising of the outage via social media rather than its website. Westpac had fully restored all affected services by 5.15am on Tuesday.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC

Mortgage stress eased in October before the RBA raised interest rates on Melbourne Cup Day

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 22-Nov-23

New research from Roy Morgan shows that 1,514,000 mortgage holders (30.1%) were ‘At Risk’ of ‘mortgage stress’ in the three months to October 2023. This period included three RBA meetings at which interest rates were left unchanged and was before the increase on Melbourne Cup Day. The figure for October represented a slight decrease on a month earlier as mortgage stress eased due to a combination of factors, such as increased household incomes, increased employment and reduced amounts borrowed and outstanding. Despite the slight easing in mortgage stress, this was only the third time in the history of the index that over 1.5 million mortgage holders were considered ‘At Risk’. The number of Australians ‘At Risk’ of mortgage stress has increased by 707,000 since May 2022, when the RBA began a cycle of interest rate increases. Meanwhile, the number of mortgage holders considered ‘Extremely At Risk’ of mortgage stress is now numbered at 967,000 (19.7%), which is significantly above the long-term average over the last 10 years of 14.1%. These are the latest findings from Roy Morgan’s Single Source Survey, based on in-depth interviews conducted with over 60,000 Australians each year, including over 10,000 owner-occupied mortgage-holders.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

ESG investment pioneer calls for ban on labels

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Original article by Joanne Tran
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 21-Nov-23

Managed funds with an environmental, social and governance focus have attracted growing scrutiny from investors and regulators in 2023. Nanuk Asset Management’s chief investment officer Thomas King contends that criticism of ESG funds and issues such as their performance has validity. King also believes that the ESG label has been overused and it should be banned; he says the acronym is confusing and ESG scores are "distracting nonsense", and that plain language should be used to describe what managed funds are doing.

CORPORATES
NANUK ASSET MANAGEMENT PTY LTD

Bendigo Bank, AustralianSuper, PayPal and NRMA Insurance are Australia’s most trusted finance and insurance brands

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 15-Nov-23

The Roy Morgan Trusted Brand Awards for 2023 in the key finance and insurance categories have been presented to Bendigo Bank, PayPal, AustralianSuper, NRMA Insurance and HBF. Other finalists in these categories included the Commonwealth Bank, ING, American Express, QSuper, Australian Ethical and insurance brands RAC, RACQ, HCF and Bupa. The Roy Morgan Trusted Brand Awards bring together outstanding companies and brands from across a range of industries to celebrate and recognise the unmatched levels of trust these organisations hold when compared to their competitors in their respective categories.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, BENDIGO BANK, PAYPAL AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, NRMA LIMITED, HBF HEALTH LIMITED

Complaints over super funds soar

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Original article by Hannah Wootton
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 8-Nov-23

Data from the Australian Financial Complaints Authority shows that there was a surge in complaints about some superannuation funds during 2022-23. The number of complaints about AustralianSuper rose by 127 per cent year-on-year to 1,750; this includes more than 1,000 complaints about the administration of customers’ accounts. AustralianSuper has acknowledged that its customer service has not met expectations, but says it is taking action to address the issue. The Australian Retirement Trust, Cbus and Hostplus are among the super funds that also attracted a large increase in complaints.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL COMPLAINTS AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN RETIREMENT TRUST PTY LTD, CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING UNIONS’ SUPERANNUATION FUND, HOST-PLUS

Super complaints soar 32pc: watchdog

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Original article by Hannah Wootton, Lucy Dean
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 2-Nov-23

Data from the Australian Financial Complaints Authority shows that the number of complaints it received about superannuation funds rose by 32 per cent in 2022-23. This includes a 136 per cent increase in complaints regarding delays in processing insurance and death benefit claims. Super Consumers Australia director Xavier O’Halloran notes that some super fund members have had to wait for more than a year to have these claims paid out, and he has called for regulatory action to force super funds to process claims more promptly.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL COMPLAINTS AUTHORITY, SUPER CONSUMERS AUSTRALIA

Over 1.57 million Australians are now At Risk of ‘mortgage stress’, representing 30.3% of mortgage holders

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 1-Nov-23

New research from Roy Morgan shows that a record high 1,573,000 mortgage holders (30.3%) were ‘At Risk’ of ‘mortgage stress’ in the three months to September 2023; this is 7,000 higher than in August. The period encompassed three RBA meetings at which interest rates were left unchanged. The number of Australians ‘At Risk’ of mortgage stress has increased by 766,000 since May 2022, when the RBA began a cycle of interest rate increases. The number of mortgage holders considered ‘Extremely At Risk’ is now numbered at 1,043,000 (20.5%) which is significantly above the long-term average over the last 15 years of 15.3%. These are the latest findings from Roy Morgan’s Single Source Survey, based on in-depth interviews conducted with over 60,000 Australians each year, including over 10,000 owner-occupied mortgage-holders.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Economists warn Cup Day rate rise may not be last

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Original article by Cecile Lefort
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 1-Nov-23

The general consensus of economists polled by the Australian Financial Review is that the Reserve Bank will increase the cash rate by 25 basis points to 4.35 per cent on 7 November. Nine of the 35 economists expect the cash rate to peak at 4.6 per cent, implying that there will be at least one more rate rise beyond November. They include Challenger’s chief economist Jonathan Kearns, who was previously the central bank’s head of domestic markets. However, independent economist Stephen Koukoulas expects the cash rate to remain on hold for a fifth consecutive month in November.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, CHALLENGER LIMITED – ASX CGF

Watchdog puts super funds on conflict notice

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Jess Malcolm
The Australian – Page: 4 : 24-Oct-23

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has reiterated that the nation’s superannuation funds must comply with their regulatory requirements, such as acting in the best financial interests of their members and avoiding conflicts of interests. Liberal senator Andrew Bragg has raised concerns about Cbus’s decision to invest $500m in the federal government’s Housing Australia Future Fund in late 2022. Bragg alleged that Cbus chairman Wayne Swan has a conflict of interests, given that he is Labor’s president and a former federal treasurer. Bragg notes that Cbus is the only super fund that has committed to investing in the HAFF.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING UNIONS’ SUPERANNUATION FUND