BANKS AND BANKING – AUSTRALIA

Westpac institutional banking head Rob Whitfield leaving

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Original article by James Chessell, Sarah Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 26-May-15

Westpac may appoint an external candidate to succeed the group’s head of institutional banking, Rob Whitfield, who is widely tipped to stand down. Whitfield has been in the role since 2007 and has been at Westpac since 1986. He had been in the running to succeed Gail Kelly as CEO earlier in 2015. Internal candidates to replace him are said to include Anthony Masciantonio, Rachel Slade and Terry Winder.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, WESTPAC INSTITUTIONAL BANK, ST GEORGE BANK LIMITED, LLOYDS BANKING GROUP PLC, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND GROUP PLC, BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ, PETER LEE ASSOCIATES PTY LTD, BT FINANCIAL GROUP PTY LTD

Banks cut deeper into deposit rates

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Original article by Clancy Yeates
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 20-May-15

Australian banks have reduced the interest rate on some savings accounts by the full 25 basis point reduction in the cash rate in May 2015. However, some banks have reduced their mortgage interest rates by a lower margin. Michelle Hutchison of Finder.com.au notes that the majority of households do not have a mortgage, while most have savings accounts. Some banks have offered a sweetener to savers by increasing the interest rate on term deposits and accounts that offer bonus interest rates.

CORPORATES
FINDER.COM.AU, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, BELL POTTER SECURITIES LIMITED, BANK OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, ST GEORGE BANK LIMITED, BANK OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA LIMITED, BANK OF MELBOURNE LIMITED

Tax breaks to lift borrowing

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Original article by Clancy Yeates
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 18-May-15

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) expects more small businesses to take out loans as a result of the Australian Government’s May 2015 Budget. CBA’s Clive van Horen says the $A5.5bn small business package should boost the confidence of small businesses and provide them with the incentive to invest in new equipment. However, TS Lim of Bell Potter says that even with the tax breaks, many small businesses will be reluctant to increase their debt.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, BELL POTTER SECURITIES LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Macquarie result wins praise and upgrades

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 12-May-15

Analysts are upbeat about the earnings outlook for Macquarie Group in fiscal 2016, after its net profit for the year to 31 March 2015 rose by 27 per cent to $A1.6bn. Data from Bloomberg shows that the consensus forecast is for a profit of $A1.79bn in fiscal 2016, and Macquarie itself expects a modest rise in earnings. CLSA has lifted its 12-month share price target to $A102, compared with Macquarie’s closing price of $A78.78 on 11 May.

CORPORATES
MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, BLOOMBERG LP, CLSA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MACQUARIE CAPITAL PTY LTD, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, MACQUARIE SECURITIES PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, DEUTSCHE BANK AG

Westpac banks on cloud push to rein in costs

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Original article by Paul Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 12-May-15

Westpac anticipates significant cost savings from a proposal to shift many of its IT systems to a hybrid cloud environment. Chief information officer Dave Curran says the banking major aims to capitalise on the efficiencies that can be derived from shifting to cloud technology. Westpac also aims to reduce its cost-to-income ratio, which rose from 41.6 per cent to 42.5 per cent in the first half of 2014-15.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AMAZON WEB SERVICES LLC, MICROSOFT CORPORATION, GOOGLE INCORPORATED

ME Bank maintains high growth targets

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Original article by Shaun Drummond
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 : 18-Mar-15

ME Bank boasted about 312,000 customers in July 2014, but it aims to lift this to one million by 2020. ME Bank has reported an underlying profit of $A29.1m for the first half of 2014-15, which is 14 per cent higher than previously, and it expects full-year profit to rise by 25 per cent to around $A60m. Home loan settlements rose by 41 per cent to $A2.4bn in the half-year, and its loan book rose by $A1.5bn to $A16.4bn

CORPORATES
MEMBERS EQUITY BANK PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

NAB leads $8b mortgage bond rush as investor demand builds

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Original article by Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 22 : 13-Mar-15

There has been a spike in activity in Australia’s residential mortgage-backed securities market in 2015, with issuance in the year to date topping $A8.2bn. This compares with just $A4.8bn during the same period in 2014. National Australia Bank is the latest player to venture into the securitisation market, issuing $A1.75bn worth of such securities with a triple-A rating

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ, RESIMAC LIMITED, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, CREDIT UNION AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED

CBA to feast on growing SME pie

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Original article by Misa Han
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 12-Mar-15

Macquarie Group is upbeat about the outlook for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), lifting its share price target from $A99 to $A101. Michael Wiblin of Macquarie believes that CBA in particular is in a strong position among the four major banks to increase its share of the small and medium enterprise banking market. He notes that the ANZ Bank and National Australia Bank seem to be losing market share to CBA in this sector

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, ONDECK, KABBAGE, GOLDMAN SACHS AND PARTNERS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CITIGROUP PTY LTD

Multibrand strategy baffles bank customers

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 10-Mar-15

A Customer Owned Banking Association (COBA) submission to the financial system inquiry criticised Australia’s major banks for failing to adequately disclose their ownership of multibrands. A survey carried out by Essential Research on behalf of COBA found that nearly 75 per cent of respondents said the banks fail to do so, while more than 50 per cent were not sure which bank owns sub-brands such as Bank of Melbourne or Bankwest

CORPORATES
CUSTOMER OWNED BANKING ASSOCIATION, BANK OF MELBOURNE LIMITED, BANK OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, ST GEORGE BANK LIMITED, BANK OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA LIMITED, UBANK, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, GROWTH SOLUTIONS GROUP PTY LTD, ONEPATH AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Macquarie seals $5.1b aircraft deal

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 & 27 : 5-Mar-15

Australian-listed Macquarie Group will partially finance the acquisition of an aircraft fleet via a $A500m capital raising. The group will pay $US4bn ($A5.1bn) for the fleet of 90 passenger airplanes, which were sold by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Terra Firma. Macquarie’s aircraft leasing business has made a number of acquisitions in recent years, and now boasts a fleet of 220 aircraft

CORPORATES
MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, TERRA FIRMA CAPITAL PARTNERS LIMITED, CANADA PENSION PLAN INVESTMENT BOARD, MACQUARIE AIRFINANCE LIMITED, SUMITOMO MITSUI FINANCIAL GROUP INCORPORATED, ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND GROUP PLC, MORGAN STANLEY AND COMPANY INCORPORATED, AWAS AVIATION CAPITAL LIMITED, ARNHEM INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, BOEING COMPANY, AIRBUS SAS, DEALOGIC (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, AIRLINE BUSINESS, GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, GENERAL ELECTRIC CAPITAL AVIATION SERVICES, AERCAP HOLDINGS NV, BOEING CAPITAL CORPORATION, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, AIR FRANCE SA, ETIHAD AIRWAYS, AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL GROUP INCORPORATED