K: Financial and Insurance Services

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

Investors ride out Iran’s missile attacks

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 13 & 18 : 9-Jan-20

The price of Brent crude oil has peaked at a four-month high in response to Iran’s missile attacks, while the spot gold price reached an 11-year high. The Australian dollar fell to a three-week low, but the local sharemarket closed only slightly down after clawing back initial losses. Kyle Rodda of IG Markets has downplayed the prospect of a US-Iran war, noting that this would not be in the strategic interests of either country. AMP Capital’s Shane Oliver warns that geopolitical risk will remain an issue in 2020.

CORPORATES
IG MARKETS LIMITED, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

Bushfire claims could double

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian – Page: 13 & 14 : 8-Jan-20

The insurance industry has received some $700m worth of bushfire-related claims since September, according to data from the Insurance Council of Australia. More than 3,700 claims have been submitted to Insurance Australia Group to date, and CEO Peter Harmer says this figure could rise significantly in coming months. Harmer is among the insurance industry executives who met with federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg on 7 January to discuss the need for a nationally co-ordinated response to the bushfire crisis. He has described the talks as "very constructive".

CORPORATES
INSURANCE COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX IAG, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, QBE INSURANCE GROUP LIMITED – ASX QBE

NAB pledges 3-year disaster reprieve

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Original article by Elouise Fowler
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 8-Jan-20

National Australia Bank has increased its bushfire disaster relief fund to $4m and advised that customers who have been affected by the catastrophe will be given three years to repay their loans. NAB has also indicated that it will provide emergency grants to business and agriculture customers, in addition to retail customers. The Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and ANZ Bank will also provide loan relief to customers who have been affected by the bushfires.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

APRA blasts banks over risk failures

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 2 : 8-Jan-20

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority is undertaking on-site reviews of the governance, culture, risk and accountability frameworks of the nation’s major banks. APRA chairman Wayne Byres says the initial findings show that changes to these frameworks are needed. Byres has signalled that smaller banks and other financial services providers will also be held accountable. APRA is also APRA is revising the CPS 220 prudential standard.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, ALLIANZ AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE

Equity boom helps ASX offset fall in IPOs

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian – Page: 13 & 18 : 8-Jan-20

The ASX’s latest activity report shows that a total of $66.3bn in capital was raised on the Australian sharemarket in 2019, compared with $98.9bn in 2018. The number of IPOs fell from 132 to just 94 in 2019, amid volatility in the global IPO market and the cancellation of several major floats on the domestic market. Meanwhile, total trades in the ASX’s cash market were 25 per cent higher in the second half of 2019 compared with the previous corresponding period, while the total on-market value traded for the half-year was nine per cent higher than previously.

CORPORATES
ASX LIMITED – ASX ASX