BANKS AND BANKING – AUSTRALIA

Macquarie exits trailing commissions

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Original article by James Kirby
The Australian – Page: 22 : 4-Jul-18

Macquarie Group’s decision to scrap trailing commissions for financial advisers has been welcomed by Bernie Ripoli, who played a key role in the Future of Financial Advice reforms. However, so-called grandfathered commissions are still widely used in the financial services sector four years after the FoFA reforms. There is speculation that the banking royal commission will recommend the abolition of trailing commissions. Ripoli says other banks could potentially opt to voluntarily scrap them.

CORPORATES
MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, BT FINANCIAL GROUP PTY LTD, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, SAS GROUP CONSULTING

Law firm hits CBA with class action suit

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Original article by Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 20 : 3-Jul-18

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia faces another class action over its money-laundering scandal. Law firm Phi Finney McDonald has filed a lawsuit on behalf of investors who bought CBA shares between 16 June 2014 and 3August 2017. The firm alleges that CBA’s failure to inform the market about the scandal constituted a breach of its disclosure requirements. The class action will allege that investors incurred loss and damage due to the bank’s inaction.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, PHI FINNEY McDONALD PTY LTD, THERIUM PTY LTD, CALIFORNIA STATE TEACHERS’ RETIREMENT SYSTEM, TEACHERS’ RETIREMENT SYSTEM OF TEXAS, MASSACHUSETTS PENSION RESERVES INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT BOARD, COLORADO PUBLIC EMPLOYEES’ RETIREMENT ASSOCIATION, MAURICE BLACKBURN PTY LTD, IMF BENTHAM LIMITED – ASX IMF

Banks to stick with advice charges

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Original article by Anthony Klan
The Australian – Page: 8 : 29-Jun-18

Westpac-owned BT recently stated that it will abolish so-called "grandfathered" advice charges for customers with legacy investment products. AMP, National Australia Bank, ANZ, and the Commonwealth Bank have indicated that they will still impose the charges. The Productivity Commission noted in a recent report that around 630,000 superannuation accounts are subject to trailing commissions, with such charges having a detrimental impact on their balances.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, BT FINANCIAL GROUP PTY LTD, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION

Farm families forgotten in ANZ loan

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Original article by Sue Neales
The Australian – Page: 2 : 26-Jun-18

The banking royal commission’s current hearings are focusing on how banks such as the National Australia Bank and ANZ treat their farming clients. Ben Steinberg from ANZ, which acquired $A2.4 billion worth of farm loans from Landmark Financial Services in 2010, has conceded that it did not take into account the human impact of calling in bad loans and evicting farm families. He said that ANZ should have been more conscious of the fact that many Landmark customers were not used to dealing with a large bank.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, LANDMARK FINANCIAL SERVICES, RABOBANK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, RURAL BANK LIMITED, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN

CBA retreats to simpler bank model

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Original article by Alice Uribe, Joyce Moullakis
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 18 : 26-Jun-18

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia will focus on its core banking operations after revealing plans to demerge its wealth management, financial planning and mortgage broking assets into a separately listed company. Analysts says the move was widely expected given the reforms that are likely to emerge from the banking royal commission. CBA has advised that it will not hold a stake in CFS Group, which is expected to have a market capitalisation of around $A8bn. CBA may also divest its general insurance business in a separate transaction.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, CFS GROUP, COLONIAL FIRST STATE GROUP LIMITED, COLONIAL FIRST STATE GLOBAL ASSET MANAGEMENT, COUNT FINANCIAL LIMITED, FINANCIAL WISDOM LIMITED, AUSSIE HOME LOANS LIMITED, MORTGAGE CHOICE LIMITED – ASX MOC, COUNTPLUS LIMITED – ASX CUP, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, MLC LIMITED, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, BT FINANCIAL GROUP PTY LTD, CONCENTRATED LEADERS FUND LIMITED – ASX CLF, SHAW AND PARTNERS LIMITED, MORNINGSTAR PTY LTD, COMMONWEALTH FINANCIAL PLANNING LIMITED, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, GOLDMAN SACHS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP

Bank customer satisfaction declines during the Finance Royal Commission

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 25-Jun-18

New research from Roy Morgan shows that bank customer satisfaction has dropped from 82.3% in January 2018, prior to the Finance Royal Commission, to 78.5% in May. This is the lowest monthly satisfaction level since May 2012, but it remains ahead of the long-term average of 74.0% calculated since 2001. The survey also shows that the level of dissatisfaction with banks has increased from 4.6% in January to 6.2%, and is now at the highest level since April 2012. These are the latest findings from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey, which includes over 4,000 interviews per month with bank customers.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

CBA gets green light for BBSW settlement

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 22-Jun-18

Federal Court judge Jonathan Beach has ruled that the Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s $A25m settlement for manipulating the bank bill swap rate is appropriate. Justice Jonathan Beach said the magnitude of the fines should be sufficient to deter similar misconduct. However, he criticised CBA’s bank bill traders for abusing their "privileged position" and questioned the adequacy of training and monitoring of the bank’s traders.

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

Murray warns bank inquiry on dangers of over-reach

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 2 : 20-Jun-18

David Murray has cautioned the banking royal commission against recommending onerous sanctions against financial services providers in response to misconduct in the sector. He will use a speech on 20 June to warn that excessive regulation of lenders and financial advisers could force borrowers to seek loans from unregulated providers. Murray, who headed the federal government’s financial system inquiry, will also advocate retention of the vertically integrated model for the financial services industry.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN AUSTRALIA

Fed hikes put squeeze on banks

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Original article by Karen Maley
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 28 : 15-Jun-18

The US Federal Reserve has signalled that two more interest rate increases are likely in 2018, following its second rate rise for the year. The new target range for the federal funds rate is between 1.75% and 2%, while the Reserve Bank of Australia has kept its cash rate at 1.5% for almost two years. The divergence in monetary policy has coincided with rising wholesale borrowing costs for Australia’s major banks, as well as a recent spike in the bank bill swap rate. Shane Oliver of AMP says local banks could potentially respond by increasing their mortgage rates on investment and interest-only loans.

CORPORATES
UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, FINANCIAL STABILITY BOARD, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, SOCIETE GENERALE SA, BNP PARIBAS SA, GRUPO SANTANDER

Big four return fire on business lending

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Original article by James Frost, James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 13-Jun-18

Australia’s major banks have used submissions to the banking royal commission’s third round of hearings to refute suggestions that they had engaged in serious misconduct. Some of the banks acknowledged that they had breached the code of banking practice with regard to small business lending, but they maintained that such transgressions were relatively minor and did not constitute a breach of the law.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, 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, FINANCIAL OMBUDSMAN SERVICE LIMITED, PIE FACE PTY LTD