BANKS AND BANKING – AUSTRALIA

ANZ warns of more housing pain to come as profit sinks by 5pc

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian – Page: 17 & 21 : 1-Nov-18

The ANZ Bank has posted a 2017-18 cash net profit of $6.49bn, which is five per cent lower than previously. Revenue for the year to 30 September declined by 1.4 per cent and ANZ’s net interest margin fell from 1.99 per cent to 1.87 per cent. CEO Shayne Elliott expects a further downturn in residential property prices, although he adds that the housing market’s fundamentals remain strong and a significant decline is unlikely. ANZ shareholders will receive a final dividend of $0.80 per share, and a full-year payout of $1.60.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, CONCENTRATED LEADERS FUND LIMITED – ASX CLF, CITIGROUP PTY LTD

Mitsubishi in $4.1bn swoop for CBA arm

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian – Page: 17 & 21 : 1-Nov-18

Brett Le Mesurier of Shaw & Partners expects the Commonwealth Bank of Australia to return capital to shareholders following a deal to sell its global asset management business. Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group will pay $4.1bn for Colonial First State Global Asset Management, which CBA had previously intended to demerge with its financial planning and mortgage assets. CBA expects to generate a post-tax gain of around $1.5bn from the sale of CFSGAM, while the bank’s common-equity tier-one capital will be boosted by 60 basis points.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, COLONIAL FIRST STATE GLOBAL ASSET MANAGEMENT, MITSUBISHI UFJ FINANCIAL GROUP INCORPORATED, SHAW AND PARTNERS LIMITED, COUNT FINANCIAL LIMITED, FINANCIAL WISDOM LIMITED, AUSSIE HOME LOANS LIMITED, COLONIAL FIRST STATE GROUP LIMITED, MORTGAGE CHOICE LIMITED – ASX MOC, COUNTPLUS LIMITED – ASX CUP, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, MLC LIMITED, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, SOCIETYONE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, TRIBECA INVESTMENT PARTNERS PTY LTD, MITSUBISHI UFJ TRUST AND BANKING INCORPORATION

Chairmen in hot seat at commission

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 19 & 22 : 31-Oct-18

Remuneration in the banking sector will come under scrutiny during the financial services royal commission’s final round of public hearings, which commences on 19 November. There is also speculation that the chairs of some, if not all, of Australia’s four major banks will be asked to appear before the inquiry. The banks’ self-­assessments of their governance and culture are also expected to be on the royal commission’s agenda.

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

The big banks facing a full-year profit hit

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 29-Oct-18

The consensus of analysts is that the ANZ Bank will post a cash profit of $6.2bn for the year to 30 September, down from $6.9bn previously. National Australia Bank’s full-year cash profit is tipped to fall from $6.64bn to $5.47bn, but Westpac’s cash profit is forecast to rise from $8.06bn previously to $8.13bn. Factors such as customer remediation costs and falling net interest margins are expected to weigh on the earnings of the three big banks. The Commonwealth Bank’s cash profit for the year to 30 June fell by 4.7 per cent to $9.4bn.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE

Macquarie scraps stockbroker commissions to tackle conflicts

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Joyce Moullakis, Samantha Bailey
The Australian – Page: 17 & 28 : 23-Oct-18

Macquarie Group has advised that it will abolish commission payments for its stockbroking advisers and move to a salary and profit share remuneration system from April 2019. Commissions were criticised by former Commonwealth Bank CEO and current AMP chairman David Murray in his Financial System Inquiry as causing the potential for conflicts of interest. However, Macquarie’s decision may not please all brokers and could lead to the departure of some staff.

CORPORATES
MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, JBWERE LIMITED, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, CRESTONE WEALTH MANAGEMENT LIMITED

Whistleblower at Westpac calls out risks

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by James Eyers, John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 22-Oct-18

An unnamed risk manager at Westpac has claimed that he was bullied and ignored after he voiced concerns about deficiencies in regard to a technology project. He has reported the matter to WorkSafe New South Wales and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority. The risk manager says his performance reviews appeared to have suffered as a result of his raising concerns about the technology project, and that his treatment was evidence of a poor risk culture at Westpac.

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

‘Fluff and fail’: shameful report card for banks

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 19-Oct-18

Research by UK-based Lafferty Global has concluded that Australia’s major banks are underperforming their international peers when assessed using a range of qualitative and quantitative measures. The Commonwealth Bank had a rating of three stars out of five, while its three main rivals all had a two-star rating. Bendigo Bank and the Bank of Queensland also had three-star ratings. Lafferty Global founder Michael Lafferty says all of the "big four" banks had a zero rating for culture and digital dependability.

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, LAFFERTY GROUP LIMITED, BENDIGO BANK, BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ

Satisfaction with banks declines during Finance Royal Commission – Big four hit hardest

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 19-Oct-18

New results from Roy Morgan shows that bank customer satisfaction has declined from 81.2% in the six months to January 2018, prior to the Finance Royal Commission, to 78.5% in the six months to September 2018. This decline of 2.7% points was mainly due to a drop in satisfaction of 3.6% points (to 75.6%) for the big four banks, compared to an overall decline of only 0.7% points for all other banks (to 84.2%). Among the 10 largest consumer banks, Bendigo Bank has the highest satisfaction with 88.8%, followed by ING (88.0%) and Bank of Queensland (87.2%). The best of the big four is the CBA on 77.1%, followed by NAB (75.3%). The most positive movers in satisfaction ratings since the Royal Commission are ING (up 2.8%) and Bank of Queensland (up 1.4%). All of the big four banks have shown declines in satisfaction over the period, with Westpac showing the greatest decline, down by 5.0% to 72.9%. Roy Morgan’s "Customer Satisfaction-Consumer Banking in Australia September Report" is based on in-depth interviews conducted face-to-face with over 50,000 consumers per annum in their homes, including over 4,000 bank customers per month.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, BENDIGO BANK, ING BANK (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Big four in fees probe

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ben Butler
The Australian – Page: 17 & 20 : 17-Oct-18

The four major banks will be a key focus of the Australian Securities & Investments Commission’s investigation into breaches of financial planning fee disclosure requirements under the Future of Financial Advice reforms. It is uncertain as to whether wealth manager AMP will also come under scrutiny by ASIC, which recently advised that it had received a "substantial" number of breach notices from various industry players.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, 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, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, COMMONWEALTH FINANCIAL PLANNING LIMITED, FINANCIAL WISDOM LIMITED, COUNT FINANCIAL LIMITED, COMMINSURE, RI ADVICE GROUP PTY LTD, MILLENNIUM 3 PTY LTD, IOOF HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX IFL, ANZ FINANCIAL PLANNING

CBA on mission to discover if households are satisfied

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by William McInnes
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 33 : 16-Oct-18

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has developed a Household Satisfaction Index containing 11 components, including work-life balance, civic engagement and education. CBA chief economist Michael Blythe says the Index is something that the bank has been thinking about for a while. He says that while other "satisfaction" surveys are based on what people feel, the CBA’s is based on hard data. Its measurement began in September 2015 and Blythe says it showed an increase in household satisfaction until around mid-2016, and that it has since tracked sideways.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA