K: Financial and Insurance Services

Lending laws no problem, ASIC insists

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 17 & 18 : 8-Jul-19

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission has been blamed in some areas for falling house prices and a decline in credit growth, due to a perception that it is taking a tougher approach to responsible lending. However, ASIC commissioner Sean Hughes notes that responsible lending laws have not changed since 2010, nor has its guidance in this area. ASIC advised in February that it will release an updated guidance note on responsible lending by September.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC

Industry Funds increasing lead in satisfaction over Retail Funds – Unisuper the top performer

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 8-Jul-19

New research by Roy Morgan shows that in the six months to May 2019, satisfaction with the financial performance of industry superannuation funds was 62.5% (up 0.5% points from the same period 12 months ago), compared with 56.5% for retail super funds (down 3.7% points). Satisfaction with retail funds was 1.8% below that of industry funds in 2018, and this gap has now increased to 6.0%. Ten of the top 12 performing super funds in May 2019, based on member satisfaction with their financial performance, were industry funds. The highest rating was for Unisuper (70.9%), followed by Tasplan on 69.6%. The only two retail funds to make it to the top 12 were Macquarie with 66.6% and Mercer on 64.3%. These results are from the newly released Roy Morgan report ‘Satisfaction with Financial Performance of Superannuation in Australia’, May 2019 edition. The data in this report represents some of the findings from Roy Morgan’s Single Source survey, which is based on in-depth interviews conducted face-to-face with over 50,000 consumers per annum in their homes, including over 30,000 with superannuation. These results are based on interviews conducted in the six months to May 2019.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, CATHOLIC SUPER, UNISUPER LIMITED, MACQUARIE SUPERANNUATION, COLONIAL FIRST STATE SUPER

Time is money as CBA waits on cuts

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Original article by Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 21 & 24 : 5-Jul-19

The Commonwealth Bank’s decision to delay a 19 basis point reduction in its variable home loan interest rates until 23 July will boost its interest income by $43m. The other three major banks will also gain additional interest income from mortgage customers by delaying rate cuts by periods ranging from nine days to two weeks. It is estimated that the big four banks’ move to delay passing on the official interest rate cut in full or in part will boost their interest income by a combined $97m.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, SHAW AND PARTNERS LIMITED, MOZO PTY LTD, HSBC AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, FIRSTMAC LIMITED, ME BANK

Morgans knew of problems at branch

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Original article by Liam Walsh
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 20 : 5-Jul-19

Stockbroker Morgans is the subject of dozens of law suits from clients; over 20 of them are targeting Morgans and David Wilkins, the former head of its branch at Springwood in Queensland. Some clients of Morgans have claimed that they lost hundreds of thousands of dollars as a result of advice they received from Morgans’ Springwood office. An email sent in 2009 that is contained in one of the lawsuits against Morgans indicates that its senior management were aware that there were problems at the office, but the fir did not advise clients about its concerns.

CORPORATES
MORGANS FINANCIAL LIMITED, SUPREME COURT OF QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION

ING home loan customers most satisfied just ahead of Bendigo Bank and Suncorp

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 5-Jul-19

The satisfaction rating of the home loan customers of Australia’s big four banks was 71.1% in May, well below the 76.8% rating given by their non-home customers. The home loan customers of the other major banks all have much higher satisfaction than the big four and are closer to the rating given by their non-home loan customers. ING has the highest home loan customer satisfaction with 88.9%, followed by Bendigo Bank (86.2%) and Suncorp (81.0%). The CBA is the best performer among the big four with 72.5%, followed by Westpac (70.7%), NAB (70.4%) and ANZ (69.6%). These are some of the latest findings from Roy Morgan’s ‘Customer Satisfaction report on Consumer Banking in Australia’, May 2019. This report is based on in-depth interviews conducted face-to-face with over 50,000 consumers per annum in their homes and covers over two decades. The latest data in this release is for the six months to May 2019.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, ING BANK (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, BENDIGO BANK, SUNCORP BANK, 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

Shares near all-time high as rates fall

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Original article by Melissa Yeo
The Australian – Page: 21 & 29 : 5-Jul-19

The S&P/ASX 200 reached a new 12-year high during intra-day trading on 4 July, and the benchmark index is now just 133 points shy of its record high of October 2007. George Kanaan of UBS says the fall in bond yields has been the key driver for local and international shares in 2019. The federal government’s income tax cuts package has also boosted sentiment among Australian investors; Plato Investment Management’s MD Don Hamson says the tax cuts could have the same stimulatory impact as two reductions in the cash rate.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, PLATO INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED, PEPPERSTONE GROUP LIMITED, EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE INDEX, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA

Lenders reluctant to pass on cut in full

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian – Page: 19 : 4-Jul-19

Macquarie Bank, Suncorp, ME Bank and ING will reduce their interest rates on a range of mortgage products by less than the latest 25 basis point reduction in the cash rate. They have joined Westpac, National Australia Bank and the Commonwealth Bank in not passing on the Reserve Bank’s interest rate cut in full. However, a number of smaller lenders have reduced their mortgage rates by the full amount, including Athena, Resimac and Newcastle Permanent.

CORPORATES
MACQUARIE BANK LIMITED – ASX MBL, SUNCORP BANK, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, ME BANK, ING BANK (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, ATHENA HOME LOANS PTY LTD, RESIMAC GROUP LIMITED – ASX RMC, NEWCASTLE PERMANENT BUILDING SOCIETY LIMITED, STATE CUSTODIANS PTY LTD, RACQ BANK, HOMESTAR FINANCE PTY LTD, REDUCE HOME LOANS, RATECITY PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, SHAW AND PARTNERS LIMITED

Big four rate game plan takes shape

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 3-Jul-19

The ANZ Bank’s s variable mortgage interest rates for all customers will be reduced by 25 basis points, in line with the Reserve Bank’s official interest rate cut. The Commonwealth Bank in turn will reduce its rates for interest-only customers by 25 basis points, although those with principal and interest loans will receive a rate cut of just 19 basis points. Meanwhile, Westpac will reduce its mortgage interest rates by 20 basis points, and the ANZ Bank’s will be cut by 19 basis points.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, ATHENA HOME LOANS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

RBA to cut twice more, say economists

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 18 : 1-Jul-19

A quarterly survey of economists shows that there is a widely held expectation that the Reserve Bank of Australia will reduce official interest rates two more times during 2019. This would reduce the cash rate to 0.75 per cent, but David Plank of the ANZ Banks says further rate cuts could be necessary, depending on the outlook for the global economy and the Australian dollar. David Bassanese of BetaShares says the RBA would be unlikely to take the cash rate below 0.5 per cent, and it would probably opt for quantitative easing instead. Many economists expect a rate cut on 2 July.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, BETASHARES CAPITAL LIMITED, ST GEORGE BANK LIMITED, BIS OXFORD ECONOMICS PTY LTD, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, MOODY’S ANALYTICS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, INDUSTRY SUPER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Banks to lift their game with new code

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 17 & 20 : 1-Jul-19

The Australian Banking Association’s updated Banking Code of Practice comes into effect on 1 July, and CEO Anna Bligh says it is an "important step" in restoring consumers’ trust in banks following the Hayne royal commission. The revised code will provide increased protection for consumers, and require banks to treat them fairly. The first phase of the open banking regime also commences on 1 July.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BANKING ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, VOLT BANK LIMITED, FINANCIAL COUNSELLING AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL COMPLAINTS AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL COMPLAINTS AUTHORITY