K: Financial and Insurance Services

Business as usual at Medibank: MD

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Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 1-Sep-14

The Australian Government’s Medibank Private IPO will proceed in December 2014 and is expected to be worth up to $A4bn. Finance Minister Mathias Cormann notes that an independent scoping study concluded that premiums are unlikely to increase when Medibank is privatised. Medibank CEO George Savvides has assured members that the quality of service will not be affected by the privatisation

CORPORATES
MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIAN DENTAL ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED

Macquarie hits political opposition in US network plan

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 19 : 1-Sep-14

The Utah Taxpayers Association opposes Macquarie Group’s proposal to complete the construction of an open-access broadband network in the state. Work on the Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency (UTOPIA) project started about 10 years ago, and Macquarie wants to finance completion of the network. The original proposal was for the network to cover 11 cities in Utah

CORPORATES
MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, UTAH TELECOMMUNICATION OPEN INFRASTRUCTURE AGENCY (UTOPIA), UTAH TAXPAYERS ASSOCIATION, CENTURYLINK, COMCAST CORPORATION, MACQUARIE CAPITAL PARTNERS LLC, ECONOWEST ASSOCIATES

Murray focus ‘on capital reserve requirements’

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Original article by Michael Bennet
The Australian – Page: 19 : 29-Aug-14

Smaller regional banks have in their submissions to the Australian Government’s new financial system review called for less onerous rules on the capital requirements to back mortgage loans. At the same time the four major banks have argued against any increase to the levels that apply to them. However the latter is believed to be the more likely recommendation by the review, as the Reserve Bank of Australia is wary of further strong growth in an already booming residential real estate market

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, MERRILL LYNCH (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD

Perpetual returns to global equities

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Original article by Ruth Liew
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 29-Aug-14

Listed fund manager Perpetual has reported a 2013-14 net profit of $A81.6m, which is 34 per cent higher than previously. Funds under management increased by 18 per cent to $A29.8bn. Perpetual will make a new push into international shares following the appointment of Garry Laurence to head its Global Share Fund. Perpetual shareholders will receive a final dividend of $A0.95 per share

CORPORATES
PERPETUAL LIMITED – ASX PPT, PERPETUAL’S GLOBAL SHARE FUND, THE TRUST COMPANY LIMITED, PM CAPITAL LIMITED, WELLINGTON MANAGEMENT COMPANY LLP, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, PLATINUM ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED – ASX PTM, MAGELLAN ASSET MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, TYNDALL INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED

Reserve Bank takes aim at mortgages

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Original article by Michael Bennet
The Australian – Page: 17 : 28-Aug-14

The four major as well as smaller regional banks have lodged their submissions for the second round of the Australian Government’s financial system review. The main lenders are arguing against stricter capital requirement rules, while the minor banks want access to public guarantees on the same favourable terms enjoyed by their competitors. However both lobbying efforts have now been criticised by the Reserve Bank of Australia. It is concerned about any moves that would lead to even greater mortgage lending, as consumers may default when interest rates rise again

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIAN BANKERS’ ASSOCIATION, BBY LIMITED, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS, BANK FOR INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENTS. BASEL COMMITTEE ON BANKING SUPERVISION, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Concern over funding of class actions

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Original article by Marianna Papadakis
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 28-Aug-14

The Australian Institute of Company Directors’ GM, Steve Burrell, has urged stricter regulation of litigation funders. He notes that growing competition in the sector has prompted a rise in class actions in the last 18 months. Litigation funders are typically paid 20-35 per cent of the total payout in successful class actions, but Burrell is concerned about a proposal to allow litigation funders to use the common fund system in Australia

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF COMPANY DIRECTORS, INTERNATIONAL LITIGATION FUNDING PARTNERS INCORPORATED, ALLCO FINANCE GROUP LIMITED, BENTHAM IMF LIMITED – ASX IMF, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, CITIBANK PTY LTD, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS CONSUMER ACTION NETWORK LIMITED, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, SINGAPORE TELECOMMUNICATIONS LIMITED – ASX SGT, VODAFONE AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NORTON ROSE FULBRIGHT AUSTRALIA

Australians’ Inflation Expectations fall to 5.0% (down 0.3%)

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Morgan Poll Update – Page: Online : 26-Aug-14

A face-to-face Morgan Poll has found that Australian inflation expectations over the next two years fell by 0.3 per cent to five per cent a year in July 2014. This is also 0.3 per cent lower than in June 2013. Analysis by federal voting intention shows that Coalition supporters have the lowest inflation expectations, at four per cent, compared with 5.2 per cent for Australian Labor Party supporters. Roy Morgan Research executive chairman Gary Morgan says the most important policy priority for the Federal Government is to reduce Australia’s high level of unemployment and under-employment if it is to stand any chance of winning the 2016 election

CORPORATES
MORGAN POLL, ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, PALMER UNITED PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

ASIC bid for tougher fines on corporate crime

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Original article by Anthony Klan
The Australian – Page: 21 : 27-Aug-14

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) has lodged a submission with the new financial system review conducted by David Murray for the Federal Government. The watchdog argues that harsher penalties should be rolled out for white-collar crimes, to ensure the perpetrators do no profit. ASIC also says it is not convinced that mandatory minimum balances should be introduced for self-managed superannuation fund accounts, and it seeks increased powers to ban unethical financial planners

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. JOINT STATUTORY COMMITTEE ON CORPORATIONS AND FINANCIAL SERVICES, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA

S&P 500 makes history

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Original article by John Kehoe, Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 27-Aug-14

The S&P 500 scaled new heights on 25 August 2014, briefly rising above the 2,000-point level. The index reached the 1,000-point milestone for the first time in early February 1998. However, US financial stocks have underperformed over the last 16 years, gaining just 10 per cent overall. Shares in Citigroup, Bank of America and American International Group in particular have been savagely sold down since 1998, while the shares of Australia’s four major banks have surged

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S 500 INDEX, CITIGROUP INCORPORATED, BANK OF AMERICA CORPORATION, AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL GROUP INCORPORATED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, PM CAPITAL LIMITED, DELTEC INTERNATIONAL GROUP, JP MORGAN AND COMPANY INCORPORATED

Fairfax-Nine rumours quashed

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Original article by Jake Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 27-Aug-14

The combined stake of 36% in Nine Entertainment held by US-based hedge funds Oaktree Capital and Apollo Global Management will come out of escrow on 28 August 2014. There have been claims in News Corporation newspaper "The Australian" that rival publisher Fairfax Media is preparing to acquire a major holding in Nine. However due to current cross-media ownership laws it would only be able to purchase 14.99% of the free-to-air TV group, and Fairfax has rejected the speculation

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, OAKTREE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC, APOLLO GLOBAL MANAGEMENT LLC, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, CITIGROUP PTY LTD