BANKS AND BANKING – AUSTRALIA

Fels supports cartel case against banks

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Original article by Patrick Durkin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 5-Jun-18

The ANZ Bank, Citigroup and Deutsche Bank are facing criminal charges relating to alleged cartel behaviour regarding the sale of shares that were not taken up in an ANZ capital raising in 2015. The first hearing in the case, which has been instigated by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission, is due to take place on 3 July. Former ACCC chairman Allan Fels says the case against the three companies appears to be a very technical one, and that their lawyers will be working hard to come up with a technical defence.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS, ADLEY BURSTYNER, NRMA INSURANCE LIMITED

CBA cops record $700m hit

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Original article by Michael Roddan, Pamela Williams
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 5-Jun-18

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has admitted to 53,750 breaches of the nation’s anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws. CBA has agreed to pay a record fine of $A700m after reaching a settlement with Austrac. The civil penalty equates to about seven per cent of the bank’s profit for fiscal 2017. ­Austrac CEO Nicole Rose says the fine is "appropriate", while she adds that CBA needs to revamp its compliance systems more quickly than the five-year timeframe it has outlined. She has also warned that organised crime gangs are still actively targeting Australian banks.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, REGAL FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, CLSA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

ANZ cartel matter unsettles financial community

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Original article by Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 4-Jun-18

Many legal experts expect that persuading a jury that the parties involved in the ANZ Bank’s cartel case had deliberately sought to break the law will be hard, while others note that a civil case would be easier to win. The Director of Public Prosecutions is pursuing a criminal cartel case against ANZ, Citi and Deutsche Bank on behalf of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission. A third investment bank, JP Morgan, has been granted immunity from prosecution.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS, COUNTRY CARE, UNILEVER PLC, BRITISH VIRGIN, CUSSONS

Gupta plans bank for businesses

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Original article by Luke Griffiths
The Australian – Page: 6 : 1-Jun-18

British billionaire Sanjeev Gupta wants to start a business-focused bank in Australia, and is looking at possible acquisition targets. Gupta’s GFG Alliance operates Wyelands Bank in the UK, which targets small and medium businesses, and Gupta says his proposed Australian bank would have a similar focus. Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox says such a bank would be welcomed, particularly as borrowing might become harder in the wake of the banking royal commission.

CORPORATES
GFG ALLIANCE, WYELANDS BANK, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, ZEN ENERGY PTY LTD, TUNGSTEN BANK, DIAMOND BAY CLEANING SERVICES, BAILLIEU HOLST LIMITED, ARRIUM LIMITED, GLENCORE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, DIAMOND BANK

NAB admits it had no right to customer’s house

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Original article by Ben Butler, Elizabeth Redman
The Australian – Page: 23 : 1-Jun-18

National Australia Bank business customer Ross Dillon was cross-examined before the banking royal commission on 31 May. NAB’s Ross McNaughton admitted that the bank had no legal entitlement to use the entire proceeds from the sale of Dillon’s home to pay off the debts of his business. He said that NAB would only have a legal claim to the proceeds if the business defaulted. Dillon maintained that it had never been his intention to solely pay down his business debts with the proceeds from the sale of his family home.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY

CBA’s risk overhaul could take five years, inquiry told

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 31-May-18

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s risk management practices came under scrutiny by the banking royal commission on 30 May. Chief risk officer David Cohen conceded that the bank’s risk function is still inadequate and warned that changes to its risk management systems will not be fully implemented for up to five years. He also expressed the view that CBA needs to "return to the basics" with regard to its risk function.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, BANKWEST, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

CBA shock that Bankwest wasn’t up to scratch

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 30-May-18

The business loans portfolio of Bankwest came under scrutiny by the banking royal commission on 29 May. The Commonwealth Bank’s chief risk officer David Cohen told the inquiry that the loan book was reviewed after Bankwest’s acquisition in 2009, and concerns were raised about the quality of the loan book and the procedures used for granting loans. Bankwest CEO Jon Sutton also expressed concern about the quality of its business loan book in April 2009 and again in March 2010.

CORPORATES
BANKWEST, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY

Lawyers alarmed by Hayne inquisition

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Original article by Misa Han
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 34 : 25-May-18

There are suggestions that the banking royal commission lacks procedural fairness, both for companies and individuals that appear before it. Dr Matt Collins, who is the ANZ Bank’s chief counsel and president of the Victorian bar, notes that the rules of evidence that apply in a normal court do not apply in a royal commission, and this means that some of the evidence given before the commission can be unreliable. Grant Hoole from the Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law at the University of New South Wales says witnesses before a royal commission who are facing serious allegations should have the right to be questioned by their own counsel, for the sake of fairness.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, GILBERT AND TOBIN LAWYERS, HENDERSON MAXWELL PTY LTD

Bank’s conduct unconscionable

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Original article by Ben Butler
The Australian – Page: 19 & 23 : 25-May-18

Westpac faces a maximum fine of $A3.3m after the Federal Court upheld three unconscionable conduct charges with regard to the bank bill swap rate. However, the court ruled that the trades did not amount to market manipulation. Westpac would have faced penalties of up to $A2bn under revised laws that took effect after the offences in question. Its three major rivals had agreed to out-of-court settlements with the Australian Securities & Investments Commission over allegations of unconscionable conduct.

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

Minister lambasts CBA fee gouge

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Original article by Caitlin Fitzsimmons
The Age – Page: 8 : 24-May-18

Financial Services Minister Kelly O’Dwyer has criticised the Commonwealth Bank’s move to impose a "regulatory reform fee" on members of its superannuation and pension funds. Super fund members have been told that the fee is to cover the cost of unspecified but "highly technical and complex" regulatory reforms. O’Dwyer says there appears to be no justification for the fee, and argues that customers’ retirement savings should not be used to meet compliance requirements.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, COLONIAL FIRST STATE GROUP LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH PRIVATE BANK, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY