GOVERNMENTAL INVESTIGATIONS – AUSTRALIA

CBA captured 40pc of Aussie mortgages

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 4-Apr-18

Data supplied to the banking royal commission shows that a significant proportion of home loans sold by Aussie Home Loans in 2015 were those offered by its parent company, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Up to 39.7 per cent of the mortgages that Aussie Home Loans sold by volume in 2015 were from brands owned by the bank, including Bankwest and Aussie Select. Likewise, 37.5 per cent of mortgage loans sold by value were from CBA-owned brands. A key issue for the royal commission has been whether mortgage brokers are acting in the interests of their customers or the banks.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSSIE HOME LOANS LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, BANK OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSSIE SELECT

AMP and ASIC added to banking royal commission hit list

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 4-Apr-18

Financial advice will be the focus of the banking royal commission’s second round of public hearings, which will commence on 9 April. While the four major banks are likely to attract further scrutiny, AMP and its subsidiaries have also been asked to appear before the inquiry, along with officials from the Australian Securities & Investments Commission and industry bodies such as the Financial Planning Association of Australia and the Association of Financial Advisers.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, FINANCIAL PLANNING ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, ASSOCIATION OF FINANCIAL ADVISERS LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, COMMONWEALTH FINANCIAL PLANNING LIMITED, COUNT FINANCIAL LIMITED, DOVER GROUP, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, RI ADVICE GROUP PTY LTD, MILLENNIUM 3 PTY LTD, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, BT FINANCIAL GROUP PTY LTD, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB

Credit card debt to take 138 years to pay

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 23-Mar-18

Commonwealth Bank executive Clive van Horen has conceded that the bank erred in the case of problem gambler David Harris. Harris has told a public hearing of the banking royal commission how the bank had continued to give him credit cards and had extended his credit limit even though he had admitted to being a problem gambler. Van Horen told the commission that the bank has since tightened its rules in relation to giving credit to customers who appear to have gambling problems.

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

Uber, Airbnb, Deliveroo urge labour law shake-up

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Original article by Patrick Durkin, David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 20-Mar-18

The Senate inquiry into the future of work has received more than 140 submissions, with sharing-economy businesses arguing that existing workplace laws are outdated. Deliveroo has used its submission to propose the creation of a new category of employment for people who work in the "gig economy", noting that regulations governing casual employees are not compatible with its business model. Meanwhile, Google has stressed the need to retrain up to 3.5 million workers whose jobs may be at risk due to digital disruption.

CORPORATES
DELIVEROO, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, UBER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AIRBNB AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, SEEK LIMITED – ASX SEK, CENTRE FOR FUTURE WORK, FOODORA, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, ATLASSIAN CORPORATION PLC

CBA reels from credit card bungle

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 20-Mar-18

The banking royal commission has been told that the Commonwealth Bank kept back certain information regarding its credit card plus product from the Australian Securities & Investments Commission. ANZ executive William Ranken has also told the royal commission that the bank did not examine the expenses of every prospective mortgage customer, but instead made use of the household expenditure measure benchmark.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, COMMINSURE

Comyn pledges to fix commission problems

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Original article by James Thomson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 19-Mar-18

Incoming Commonwealth Bank of Australia CEO Matt Comyn has alerted staff in its retail division that the week beginning 19 March could be uncomfortable for them. He says that submissions made to the banking royal commission during the coming week may include examples of where the CBA treated customers poorly. Cormyn, who will take over from Ian Narev in April, has given a commitment to fix any problems that the royal commission may unearth.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY

NAB first up at banking royal commission

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

National Australia Bank executive Anthony Waldron is scheduled to be the first banker to appear before the financial services royal commission. He is expected to be quizzed about NAB’s "introducer program" and fraudulent mortgage loan applications. It is understood that he will tell the commission that NAB has now made the eligibility criteria for the program more stringent. Waldron is also expected to rebut claims by the Finance Sector Union that NAB did not discipline senior staff in regard to the fradulent loan applications.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, FINANCE SECTOR UNION, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSSIE HOME LOANS LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Credit mischief costs banks $50m

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Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 15-Feb-18

The financial services royal commission will initially focus on banks’ responsible lending practices in relation to credit cards, home loans and car finance packages. Meanwhile, new figures show that the Australian Securities & Investments Commission has ordered banks to pay $A50m in refunds and compensation to credit card customers over the last two years. Westpac, ANZ and Citi are among the banks that have been forced to reimburse customers during this period.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, CITIBANK PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

IAG profit jumps 24pc, as insurer mulls Asian exit

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 21 : 15-Feb-18

Insurance Australia Group has posted a 2017-18 interim net profit of $A551m, which is 24 per cent higher than previously. The insurer has written down the value of its Asian assets by $A50m, and indicated that it could potentially exit the region. Meanwhile, CEO Peter Harmer says the company took action to remedy problems with its "add-on" car insurance business well before the financial services commission commenced, and opted to withdraw from this sector of the market.

CORPORATES
INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX IAG, SWANN INSURANCE (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, NRMA LIMITED, CGU INSURANCE AUSTRALIA LIMITED, BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INCORPORATED

Choice urges Hayne focus on unfair fees

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Original article by Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 8-Feb-18

Consumer group Choice has used its submission to the banking royal commission to urge the inquiry to examine issues such as the use of trailing commissions in the financial services sector and the methods used to calculate fees and charges. Choice has argued that unfair fees is a key issue that the general public would like the royal commission to address. Choice has also criticised the financial services industry’s self-regulation regime, noting the shortcomings of self-regulation for insurers in particular.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN CONSUMERS’ ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY