K: Financial and Insurance Services

Open banking rules too tough, say start-ups

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 16 : 15-Jan-20

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission is responsible for the accreditation of financial services providers under the federal government’s ‘open banking’ regime. However, Fintech Australia has criticised the complexity of the process, and notes that it is expected to cost financial technology companies between $50,000 and $100,000 to gain accreditation. Fintech Australia contends that this cost will be prohibitive for many business start-ups. The open banking regime will commence in July, after initially being slated to begin in February.

CORPORATES
FINTECH AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

Health funds fear surge in fire claims

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Original article by Jared Lynch
The Australian – Page: 15 & 16 : 15-Jan-20

Private health insurers expect the bushfire crisis to result in a sharp increase in insurance claims, particularly from customers who have been affected by the smoke haze. However, they say it is too soon to determine the exact impact of the fires. Latrobe Health Services CEO Ian Whitehead anticipates a big increase in claims related to mental health issues arising from the bushfires, as well as physical health problems. Australian Medical Association president Tony Bartone says the longer-term effects of inhaling hazardous smoke will not be known for some time.

CORPORATES
LATROBE HEALTH SERVICES, AUSTRALIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION LIMITED, BUPA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL, AUSTRALIAN UNITY LIMITED

Investors ready to turn savage

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Original article by Melissa Yeo
The Australian – Page: 21 : 15-Jan-20

The sharemarket rally has seen the S&P/ASX 200’s price-to-earnings multiple rise to a record high of 18 times. Mirrabooka Investments’ MD Mark Freeman says high valuations means that stocks which fail to meet expectations in the February reporting season will be punished by investors. Meanwhile, Mirrabooka has reported a 2019-20 interim profit of $4.4m, compared with $4.6m previously. Shareholders will receive a first-half dividend of $0.35 per share.

CORPORATES
MIRRABOOKA INVESTMENTS LIMITED – ASX MIR, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX

Westpac pays bushfire mortgages

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Original article by Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 14-Jan-20

Westpac has revealed details of its support package for victims of the nation’s bushfire crisis. Amongst other things, the bank will make mortgage repayments on behalf of customers whose primary residence was lost in the bushfires. This will apply for one year, and payments will be capped at $1,200 per month. Personal customers will also receive interest-free loans to cover the gap between insurance payouts and rebuilding costs, and business customers will be offered low-interest loans. Westpac and its major rivals have also made large donations to bushfire relief appeals.

CORPORATES
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, RED CROSS SOCIETY, S&P GLOBAL RATINGS

Banks to bear cost of blazes: Morgan Stanley

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Original article by Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 14-Jan-20

Morgan Stanley has warned that the bushfires crisis will have a direct financial cost on Australian banks, including an increase in insurance claims and loan losses. S&P expects loan arrears to increase in the wake of the bushfires, although rival ratings agency Moody’s says the proportion of loans that are affected by the bushfires is likely to be relatively small. Morgan Stanley adds that factors such as the impact of the bushfires on retail spending will have the biggest impact on bank earnings.

CORPORATES
MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, S&P GLOBAL RATINGS, MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED

ASIC puts insurers on notice over bushfires

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Original article by Max Maddison, Joyce Moullakis
The Australian – Page: 13 & 14 : 10-Jan-20

Suncorp has estimated that its bushfire claims for the current financial year have cost between $315 million and $345 million to date. Around 9,000 bushfire insurance claims have been made across New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia since September, while the Australian Securities & Investments Commission has urged insurers to deal with bushfire claims fairly and efficiently. ASIC has warned consumers to be on the lookout for fraudulent tradespeople and repairers offering to help them with insurance claims.

CORPORATES
SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

RBA says no to Facebook’s new currency

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 10-Jan-20

Facebook’s proposed Libra cryptocurrency should not be allowed to proceed in Australia without major regulation, according to the Reserve Bank of Australia. The RBA expressed this view in a submission to the Senate Select Committee on Financial Technology and Regulatory Technology, with the RBA querying whether there would be much demand for Libra from consumers. The RBA stated Australians were already well served by a range of inexpensive and efficient real-time payment methods.

CORPORATES
FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Tasplan tops superannuation satisfaction, as industry funds continue to lead retail funds

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 10-Jan-20

New data from Roy Morgan’s Superannuation Satisfaction Report shows that industry fund Tasplan had the highest customer satisfaction rating of any super fund in the six months to November 2019, at 73.9%. It was ahead of Unisuper (73.7%), Cbus (73.3%), First State Super (70.3%) and HESTA (70.2%). As a group, industry funds (65.1%) outperformed retail funds (59.5%) in terms of satisfaction, and the gap has widened compared to the same period a year ago. The report’s findings have been obtained from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey, compiled by in-depth face-to-face interviews with over 50,000 Australians each year in their homes.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, TASPLAN LIMITED, UNISUPER LIMITED, CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING UNIONS’ SUPERANNUATION FUND, FIRST STATE SUPER, HEALTH EMPLOYEES’ SUPERANNUATION TRUST AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Conditions ideal for melt-up in world markets

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 18 : 10-Jan-20

The S&P/ASX 200 fell just shy of the record 6,893.7 points on 9 January, as tensions between the US and Iran eased. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 reached a new intra-day high. Peter Cecchini of Cantor Fitzgerald says the S&P 500 could potentially reach 3,300 points in the near-term, but he expects it to fall to 2,880 by the end of 2020. However, there is every indication that equities markets in developed countries will continue to rally in the near-term; the Australian market will receive a further boost if the cash rate is reduced in February.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 A-REIT INDEX, STANDARD AND POOR’S 500 INDEX, CANTOR FITZGERALD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Rate cut odds shorten as bushfires hit economy

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 14 : 9-Jan-20

The prospect of an official interest rate cut in February has increased from 38 per cent to almost 60 per cent in the wake of the bushfires crisis. Katrina Ell of Moody’s Analytics says the odds of a rate cut had already been high, while she warns that agriculture, tourism, household spending and productivity are likely to be particularly hard hit by the disaster. Meanwhile, Capital Economics’ analysis suggests that a sharp fall in tourist numbers and farm production could reduce economic growth by about 0.1 per cent in the March quarter.

CORPORATES
MOODY’S ANALYTICS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CAPITAL ECONOMICS LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, GOLDMAN SACHS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CITIGROUP PTY LTD