BANKS AND BANKING – AUSTRALIA

Westpac takes $1.3b profit hit on write-downs

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 20 : 13-Oct-21

Westpac has advised that a $965m writedown associated with its institutional banking division will reduce its profit for the second half of 2020-21 by $1.3bn. Westpac will also make further provision of $172m for customer remediation and potential legal action in the wake of the Hayne royal commission. Westpac’s common equity tier 1 capital ratio will be reduced by 15 basis points as a result of the writedowns. Meanwhile, the Commonwealth Bank has indicated that its own its remedial action plan has been completed, more than three years after entering into an enforceable undertaking with the prudential regulator.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA

CBA tops complaint list for third straight year

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Original article by Michael Read
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 12-Oct-21

Data from the Australian Financial Complaints Authority shows that it received a total of 67,613 complaints from customers of financial services providers in 2020-21. This follows a record 76,874 complaints in the previous financial year. About 25 per cent of all complaints were about the nation’s four major banks, with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia topping the list with 5,815 complaints. A CBA spokesman says the number of complaints it received fell by 11 per cent in 2020-21, while it resolved almost two-thirds of complaints without needing to refer them to the ACFA.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL COMPLAINTS AUTHORITY, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA

Fortescue, ANZ link to bribes tycoon

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Original article by Liam Walsh, Neil Chenoweth
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 2 : 6-Oct-21

The Pandora Papers have revealed that several prominent Australian companies have links to Chinese businessman Du Shuanghua, who had testified in 2010 that he had paid bribes to secure Australian iron ore. The documents released by the International Confederation of Investigative Journalists show that Fortescue Metals Group had sold iron ore to Bright Ruby Resources, a commodities trading hub that is controlled by Du. Fortescue has stated that it has a "zero tolerance" approach to bribery and corruption. The Pandora Papers also show that the ANZ Bank has been providing banking services to Bright Ruby Resources since 2013, via its office in Singapore. Du was not prosecuted for his role in the alleged bribery scandal that involved former Rio Tinto executive Wang Yong.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, INTERNATIONAL CONSORTIUM OF INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISTS, BRIGHT RUBY RESOURCES PTE LTD, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

ING home loan customers are the most satisfied with their bank, followed by Suncorp, Bendigo Bank and BankSA

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 29-Sep-21

New financial data from Roy Morgan shows that ING has maintained its lead at the top of banking customer satisfaction ratings among home loan customers in mid-2021. ING’s satisfaction rating rose 2.6% points year-on-year to 91.3% in August 2021. ING was followed by Suncorp on 90.3% (up 3.9% points on a year ago), Bendigo Bank on 89.1% (up 0.1% points) and BankSA on 87.3% (up 11% points). The latest data covers the six months to August 2021; overall home loan customer satisfaction amongst Australia’s top 12 banks collectively was at 77.9% during this period. This represents a decrease of 0.5% points from a year ago when there was significant financial support being offered to hundreds of thousands of home loan customers in the form of deferred loans. CBA once again has the highest home loan customer satisfaction among the big four banks, with a rating of 78.7%. Average home loan customer satisfaction with the big four banks as a group is 75.9%. These latest banking satisfaction ratings come from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey, derived from in-depth interviews with over 50,000 Australians each year.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, ING BANK (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, SUNCORP BANK, BENDIGO BANK, BANK OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Banks demand criminal cartel case be tossed

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Original article by Hannah Wootton
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 17-Sep-21

The Federal Court has been urged to throw out a criminal cartel case against banking firms Citi, Deutsche and ANZ and five of their executives. The case relates to a capital raising by the ANZ, which Citi, Deutsche and JP Morgan were underwriting, with the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission alleging that the executives came to an "arrangement" after the capital raising to purchase a shortfall of shares to limit supply or maintain ANZ’s share price. Tim Game, SC, appearing for the ANZ, said on 16 September that the prosecution’s indictment fails to establish the particulars of the claims being made.

CORPORATES
FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, CITI AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Banks eye mandatory jabs for staff

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian – Page: 15 & 19 : 24-Aug-21

An Australian Banking Association working group is believed to have discussed the issue of mandatory COVID-19 vaccination for branch-based bank employees. Some banks have adopted a policy of voluntary vaccination for frontline staff, while the major banks are also seeking legal advice about the issue of vaccinations and their requirement to provide a safe working environment. National Australia Bank recently began offering the AstraZeneca vaccine to its employees, with an initial focus on staff in local government areas that are at the centre of Sydney’s current outbreak.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BANKING ASSOCIATION, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB

ACCC under fire as ANZ cartel charges reduced

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Original article by Charlotte Grieve
Brisbane Times – Page: Online : 19-Aug-21

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission is under scrutiny over its role in prosecuting a cartel case against the ANZ Bank, Citigroup and Deutsche Bank. The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions recently dropped all charges against Citi Australia’s former head Stephen Roberts, plus a number of charges against the other five bank executives involved in the case. However, the DPP wants to re-interview JP Morgan bankers who were given immunity from prosecution by the ACCC in return for providing evidence in the case. Sources have claimed that the JP Morgan witnesses are "fast becoming discredited".

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

ANZ acts to halt fall in home lending

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Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 17 : 19-Aug-21

The ANZ Bank has revealed that its home loan book fell by $300m during the June quarter, to $280bn. Mortgage lending grew by $16.2bn for the period, but there was a $16.5bn increase in customers paying off their loans amid record low interest rates. Meanwhile, the bank has disclosed that 1,300 of its mortgage customers were still on deferred repayment plans during the quarter, which equates to just 0.2 per cent of its mortgage book. Likewise, only 50 business loans were deferred during the quarter, compared with 24,000 in 2020-21.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

NAB’s doubling down on credit cards boosts retail banking arm

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Original article by Cliona O’Dowd, John Durie
The Australian – Page: 17 : 11-Aug-21

National Australia Bank CEO Ross McEwan says the deal to buy Citigroup’s Australian consumer banking division will provide NAB with scale and expertise in unsecured lending, particularly in the credit card market. However, Morgan Stanley has questioned the merits of NAB’s push to expand in the consumer unsecured lending market, which is occurring at a time when younger Australians in particular are shunning credit cards in favour of ‘buy now, pay later’ services. Ord Minnett has in turn warned of the material risk that the transaction will be blocked by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, ORD MINNETT GROUP LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

CBA buyback tipped as earnings swell

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian – Page: 18 : 9-Aug-21

The consensus of analysts polled by Bloomberg is for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia to post a 2020-21 cash profit of $8.62bn. This compares with $7.2bn for the previous financial year. CBA’s dividend payout for the full year is expected to be $3.427 per share, with investors having received an interim dividend of $1.50. Meanwhile, Brian Johnson of Jefferies expects CBA to return surplus capital to investors via a $5.5bn off-market buyback. National Australia Bank and the ANZ Bank both recently announced buybacks.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, JEFFERIES AND COMPANY, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ