BANKS AND BANKING – AUSTRALIA

NAB, ANZ most at risk as Millennials switch

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Original article by Patrick Durkin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 25-Mar-19

Millennial Future has found that National Australia Bank and ANZ customers are most likely to change banks in the wake of the banking royal commission. NAB came in for a lot of criticism during the royal commission, while a February survey by Roy Morgan found that NAB was the least trusted bank brand in Australia. Millennial Future’s findings were based on a survey of over 1,200 bank customers between the ages of 19 and 36, although it found that bank and finance brands were still considered more trustworthy than media and insurance brands.

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

Chronican plans to put NAB back in business

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 18 : 25-Mar-19

Business banking will be a key focus of National Australia Bank’s growth strategy, says incoming chairman Philip Chronican. He notes that NAB has the biggest presence in Australia’s business banking market, particularly in the small business sector. Chronican has also identified automation as an area in which NAB is lagging behind its rivals, and stresses the need to reduce costs. Other priorities for NAB include appointing a successor to former CEO Andrew Thorburn and restoring its reputation in the wake of the Hayne royal commission.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, FINANCE SECTOR UNION

Reserve urges stingy banks to open up the credit floodgates

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Original article by Paul Garvey, David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 19 & 29 : 21-Mar-19

The Reserve Bank of Australia’s assistant governor Michele Bullock has urged the nation’s banks to be less risk-averse with regard to mortgage lending. She has used an Urban Development Institute of Australia speech to argue that banks should relax their lending standards in the wake of the Hayne royal commission and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s move to ease restrictions on lending. Bullock added that a credit crunch in Australia is unlikely, but this could depend on the outlook for the housing market.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, URBAN DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BANKING ASSOCIATION

Boutique and robo models the new face of financial advice

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Original article by James Eyers, Elouise Fowler
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 21-Mar-19

Westpac CEO Brian Hartzer expects banks to focus on using automated solutions to provide personal financial advice in future, due to the high cost of providing such services. Hamilton Wealth CEO Will Hamilton agrees that so-called robo-advice may be the only option for banks if they are to continue to offer financial advice on a large scale. Hartzer adds that consumers will still be able to pay for bespoke personal finance advice via boutique firms.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, HAMILTON WEALTH MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, VIRIDIAN ADVISORY PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, BT FINANCIAL GROUP PTY LTD, KORDA CAPITAL, SIX PARK

Westpac retreats from financial advice

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 16 : 20-Mar-19

Westpac will cease serving its existing personal financial advice customers at the end of June, after striking a deal with Viridian to exit the sector. Westpac CEO Brian Hartzer concedes that its personal finance advice business has not been profitable for some time, and increased regulation was a major factor in its decision to withdraw from the sector. Westpac faces restructuring costs of $250m to $300m, while about 900 full-time equivalent employees will be impacted by the decision to exit financial advice. Westpac expects the move to result in annual savings of $280m by 2020.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, VIRIDIAN ADVISORY PTY LTD

CBA shelves wealth sale on Hayne hit

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Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 21 & 25 : 15-Mar-19

The Commonwealth Bank has advised that the divestment of its wealth and mortgage broking assets has been put on hold to allow it to focus on implementing the Hayne royal commission’s recommendations and its customer remediation program. National Australia Bank also recently indicated that it will postpone its proposed demerger of wealth manager MLC due to the fallout from the royal commission.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, COLONIAL FIRST STATE GROUP LIMITED, COLONIAL FIRST STATE GLOBAL ASSET MANAGEMENT, FINANCIAL WISDOM LIMITED, COUNT FINANCIAL LIMITED, AUSSIE HOME LOANS LIMITED, MLC LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, IOOF HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX IFL, MITSUBISHI UFJ TRUST AND BANKING INCORPORATION, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC

ING gains as customers flee the big banks

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 14-Mar-19

The number of customers for whom ING Australia is their main bank has risen by 57 per cent in the last year, to 645,000. This compares with just 100,000 customers in 2013. ING Australia CEO Uday Sareen says positive advocacy from the digital-only bank’s existing customers has been a major of its recent growth, which has also coincided with the Hayne royal commission. ING Australia booked a statutory net profit of $401m in 2018, an increase of 15 per cent, while deposits grew by nine per cent to $43.4bn.

CORPORATES
ING AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN, APPLE PAY, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC

NAB customers get $110m compo

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Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 19 & 23 : 13-Mar-19

National Australia Bank has disclosed that 310,000 customers have collectively been paid $110m over the fee-for-no-service scandal since mid-2018. Acting CEO and chairman-elect Phil Chronican has also used a letter to shareholders to concede that much more work needs to be done at NAB, and he has stressed the need to ensure that the bank always get things right for customers. Meanwhile, chief people officer Lorraine Murphy has become the first NAB executive to resign since the recent leadership changes.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG

Westpac, CBA flooded with new customer complaints

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Original article by James Eyers, James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 9-Mar-19

There are now nearly 1,000 outstanding customer complaints against the Commonwealth Bank, with new complaints surging in the wake of the banking royal commission. The number of such complaints against Westpac is 1,800. Westpac CEO Brian Hartzer has suggested one of the reasons for the surge in complaints has been publicity concerning the new Australian Financial Complaints Authority. Both Hartzer and CBA CEO Matt Comyn are supportive of moves that would assist consumers and community lawyers to take actions against banks.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL COMPLAINTS AUTHORITY

Chronican to steer NAB out of trouble

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Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 17 & 21 : 7-Mar-19

National Australia Bank’s interim CEO Phil Chronican will succeed Ken Henry as chairman. There had been speculation that Chronican could be a contender to replace Andrew Thorburn as CEO, but Chronican says he did not want to commit to the arduous role of CEO on a permanent basis. Chronican adds that he does not expect the process of recruiting Thorburn’s successor to take very long. Henry and Thorburn both resigned following the release of the Hayne royal commission’s final report, which heavily criticised both men.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ