BANKS AND BANKING – AUSTRALIA

CBA stung: pay cuts for executives

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Andrew White
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 2-May-18

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia will implement all 35 recommendations of an independent panel that was commissioned to examine its governance, culture and accountability. CEO Matt Comyn says the bank has already made a number of changes since the report was commissioned by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority in the wake of Austrac’s money-laundering investigation. Amongst other things, senior executives will not receive bonuses and some have agreed to a pay cut.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

ATO targets 106 secret Credit Suisse accounts

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Neil Chenoweth
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 2-May-18

The financial affairs of Credit Suisse’s private clients in Australia are under scrutiny by the Australian Taxation Office. The ATO contacted 77 of the Swiss bank’s local private clients on 1 May, and it will target 106 such clients in total. The ATO has identified more than 5,000 cross-border transactions that are deemed to be suspicious, and which exceed $A900m in total. The Australian clients are believed to have been advised by Switzerland-based relationship managers, who are alleged to have provided advice on tax evasion schemes.

CORPORATES
CREDIT SUISSE AG, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE

Stress test reveals risk for Australian banks

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Samantha Bailey
The Australian – Page: 28 : 1-May-18

Fitch Ratings’ mortgage "stress test" of Australia’s major banks shows that they could be vulnerable if a sharp downturn in the housing market were accompanied by a decline in consumer spending and an increase in business lending losses. Fitch warns that a sharp rise in the unemployment rate could trigger a housing market slump, but the ratings agency concludes that the four major banks could withstand such a downturn provided that other key metrics were not affected.

CORPORATES
FITCH RATINGS LIMITED, 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

APRA to unveil CBA report this week

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 30-Apr-18

An independent panel has spent more than six months examining the Commonwealth Bank’s governance and culture on behalf of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority. The panel, which consists of corporate director Jillian Broadbent, former Australian Competition & Consumer Commission chairman Graeme Samuel and former APRA chairman John Laker, is due to report its findings to APRA on 30 April, with APRA to make the findings public in the next few days. It is likely that the panel will be critical of a lack of emphasis on risk culture at the bank, and of its investments in risk systems.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE

CBA looks at selling advice firms

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 24-Apr-18

The Commonwealth Bank is said to be reviewing its ownership of the Count Financial and Financial Wisdom financial planning groups. An announcement on a possible sale of the two groups could be made in the second half of 2018. The banking royal commission’s revelations have prompted banks to consider their ownership of financial planning groups, amid concern about the potential for conflicts of interests. The CBA paid $A373 million for Count Financial in 2011, while it assumed ownership of Financial Wisdom when it acquired the Colonial Group in 2000.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, COUNT FINANCIAL LIMITED, FINANCIAL WISDOM LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, COLONIAL GROUP, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, SHAW AND PARTNERS LIMITED

CBA charges dead customers for advice

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 20-Apr-18

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has apologised to the families of deceased customers who had continued to be charged fees for financial advice after their death. The banking royal commission has been told that four deceased customers of CBA subsidiary Count Financial had been charged fees, in one case for more than 10 years after their death. The inquiry has also been told that CBA had been made aware of a fees-for-no-service scandal at Count Financial in November 2012, but it did not inform ASIC until 2014.

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

CBA reputation hammered by series of scandals

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by James Thomson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 19-Apr-18

The Commonwealth Bank is rated 57th in the Reputation Institute’s latest Australian Corporate Reputation Index, compared with 36th previously. The index was compiled in February and March, and followed a series of scandals and executive departures at the bank. However, the positions of Australia’s other three major banks were largely unchanged in the latest index. Air New Zealand has the highest ranking in the index for the second successive year, followed by Toyota and Qantas.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, REPUTATION INSTITUTE PTY LTD, AIR NEW ZEALAND LIMITED – ASX AIZ, TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION AUSTRALIA LIMITED, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX IAG, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN, AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, APPLE PTY LTD, MURRAY GOULBURN CO-OPERATIVE COMPANY LIMITED, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, ENERGYAUSTRALIA PTY LTD

CBA eyes $4b spin-off of funds manager

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 16 : 18-Apr-18

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has appointed John Mulcahy as the chairman of Colonial First State Global Asset Management ahead of its demerger and sharemarket float. Goldman Sachs values CFSGAM at between $A3.7bn and $A4.8bn, which could potentially make it the largest Australian IPO since Medibank Private in 2014. CBA opted for an IPO following a strategic review of CFSGAM, which boasts $A219bn worth of assets under management. CBA sold its life insurance business in 2017, and the latest divestiture will enable it to focus on its core banking business.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, COLONIAL FIRST STATE GLOBAL ASSET MANAGEMENT, GOLDMAN SACHS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL, MIRVAC GROUP – ASX MGR, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, AIA GROUP LIMITED, ARNHEM INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, BT INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED – ASX BTT, REGAL FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NEW SOUTH WALES TREASURY CORPORATION, INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX IAG, ECLIPX GROUP LIMITED – ASX ECX, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, FIDELITY INVESTMENTS AUSTRALIA LIMITED, ERNST AND YOUNG, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Banks discuss new standards council option

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by James Frost, James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 16-Apr-18

The second week of the banking royal commission’s public hearings will commence on 16 April, with financial planning to be the initial focus. AMP executive Anthony Jack Regan and Australian Securities & Investments Commission deputy chairman Peter Kell are both expected to appear before the commission on 16 April. Meanwhile, talks involving the formation of a Professional Banking Council are continuing, with banks, regulators and industry associations involved in the discussions.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, FINANCIAL SERVICES INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALASIA, AUSTRALIAN BANKERS’ ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

Westpac reveals tough move against liar loans

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Duncan Hughes
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 34 : 12-Apr-18

Westpac will introduce stricter disclosure criteria for people seeking a home loan from mid-April. Amongst other things, mortgage applications will be required to provide more extensive information on their expenditure in order to qualify for a loan. The move is aimed at cracking down on so-called "liar loans". Independent analysis suggests that about 20 per cent of mortgage applications overstate their income and almost 50 per cent understate their expenditure.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, BANK OF MELBOURNE LIMITED, ST GEORGE BANK LIMITED, BANK OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA LIMITED, EQUIFAX INCORPORATED, EXPERIAN AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ILLION, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY