News Archive
2010
- January [1]
2009
- December [1]
- November [3]
- October [2]
- September [5]
- August [3]
- July [4]
- June [5]
- May [2]
- April [2]
- March [6]
- February [11]
- January [12]
2008
Bank News
Apra Not Going To Make It Easy For Funds To Move To A Banking Structure
30 October 2008
APPLYING for a bank licence is a touch more complex than filling out a stack of forms at the local APRA branch... read full story
Nothing Wacky - Just Truncate Guarantee When Stability Returns
30 October 2008
Mortgage funds won't be rushing to take up the Rudd Government's suggestion that they upgrade to banks to qualify for the government guarantee on bank deposits... read full story
Rudd's Wacky 'become A Bank' Idea Is Impractical And Smacks Of Desperation
30 October 2008
The Government should withdraw its unfair guarantee on bank deposits... read full story
St George Annual Cash Rises Before Merger
30 October 2008
ST GEORGE Bank has defied financial market turmoil to deliver a 13.9% jump in annual cash profit, with the fifth-biggest lender attempting to go out on a high before being folded into Westpac... read full story
St George Shuns Recession Talk
30 October 2008
THE two drivers of growth which have pushed cash profits at St George Bank to a record $1.3 billion were slowing rapidly but the fall should level out enough to avoid the country sliding into recession over the coming year, the bank's chief executive, Paul Fegan, said yesterday... read full story
Hybrids Hit As Cash Run Accelerates
29 October 2008
THE crisis gripping Australia's mortgage fund industry has spread to Australia's $26 billion hybrid securities market as investors sell out of listed securities to switch into high-yielding bank deposits... read full story
Hybrids Market Feels Strain
29 October 2008
THE crisis gripping the nation's mortgage fund industry has spread to Australia's $26 billion hybrid securities market, with investors selling out of the listed securities as they switch into high-yielding bank deposits... read full story
Rudd's Remedy: Be A Bank
29 October 2008
PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd has sought to defuse the crisis facing the operators of mortgage funds and other managed investments by suggesting they become banks... read full story
Regional Bank Pair To Push For Capital
28 October 2008
THE regional lender Bendigo and Adelaide Bank will push ahead with a capital raising of up to $150 million to bolster its balance sheet in the face of volatile credit markets... read full story
Chief Leaves St George With Best-ever Profit
27 October 2008
PAUL Fegan will sign off as chief executive of St George Bank this week by delivering a $1.3 billion annual cash profit in what will be the group's last full year as an independent institution before its expected merger with Westpac next month... read full story
St George To Unveil A Record
27 October 2008
PAUL Fegan will sign off as chief executive of St George Bank by delivering a record $1.3billion annual cash profit this week in what will be the group's last full year as an independent institution before its expected merger with larger rival Westpac next month... read full story
Bank Intervention Is A Risky Business For Governments
25 October 2008
If governments have learned anything over the past six months, and in particular over the past six weeks, it is that the unfettered capitalism model has failed abysmally at pricing risk. But can Kevin Rudd do a better job?.. read full story
Optimism In Among The Debt Woes
25 October 2008
ANZ Bank and its main Australian rivals face the biggest test of their extensive loan books in 20 years as bad debts mount and capital becomes harder to find as a result of the global credit crisis... read full story
Premium Set On Guarantee
25 October 2008
PEOPLE with more than $1 million in the bank will have to pay a premium to get the benefit of a government guarantee, under changes Treasurer Wayne Swan has unveiled to stabilise the financial system... read full story
A secure bank account with the RaboPlus Savings Account
24 October 2008
The secure high interest RaboPlus Savings Account can help you save more money into your bank account... read full story
Anz Maintains Dividend As Profits Tumble
24 October 2008
ANZ Bank has dismissed any need to shore up its balance sheet with a rights issue and ruled out cutting dividend payments in the face of what the chief executive, Michael Smith, called "unprecedented" financial turmoil... read full story
Go To Centrelink: Swan's Advice On Frozen Funds
24 October 2008
PRESSURE on the Federal Government over its bank deposit guarantee has escalated after three big financial institutions hit with a spate of withdrawals by customers last night froze their accounts... read full story
Poor Result Confirms Anz As A Good-time Bank
24 October 2008
MIKE Smith is not shirking from ANZ's 23% earnings drop, with the chief executive saying he was prepared to take responsibility for the annual set of accounts even though problems had set in well before he joined the bank a little over a year ago... read full story
Westpac Clear To Slay The Dragon
24 October 2008
THE Treasurer, Wayne Swan, has approved Westpac's plan to take over St George, which would make it the nation's biggest bank... read full story
5% Inflation Is The Peak, Says Swan
23 October 2008
TREASURER Wayne Swan has declared victory in the war against inflation as the rate hits 5%, double the Reserve Bank's target... read full story
Head Of Treasury Lashes Lib Senator
23 October 2008
ONE of Canberra's top bureaucrats, Treasury secretary Ken Henry, has clashed sharply with Liberal senators after one of them questioned his truthfulness over the Government's bank deposit guarantee plan... read full story
Treasury Chief Vents Fury On Liberal Senator
23 October 2008
ONE of Canberra's top bureaucrats, Treasury secretary Ken Henry, has clashed sharply with Liberal senators after one of them questioned his truthfulness over the Government's bank deposit guarantee plan... read full story
If That Was Bad, Just Wait For The Hangover
22 October 2008
It was a cautiously optimistic executive team from the National Australia Bank that fronted investors yesterday to present its results for the 2008 financial year of crisis. The signs of optimism are tentative and understandable, as only a fool would be declaring the worst is over... read full story
Nab Earnings Take 10.7% Dive
22 October 2008
NATIONAL Australia Bank has warned that any recovery in "dysfunctional" global banking markets could be as much as three years away, with a recession looming for most Western economies... read full story
Nab Weathers $1b Loans Blow
22 October 2008
THE fall-out from the worldwide credit turmoil is likely to plague the global financial system for the next three years but Australia should narrowly avoid a recession in 2009 even though growth is slowing sharply, National Australia Bank warned yesterday... read full story
Rethink On Banking Guarantee
22 October 2008
THE Rudd Government has been forced to revise its plan to guarantee bank deposits after it sparked a rush of withdrawals from investments not covered by the guarantee... read full story
Banks Recovering From Crisis
21 October 2008
SIGNS of life have returned to bank funding markets as measures by governments around the world revive frozen interbank lending markets... read full story
Foreign Bank Branches Want The Guarantee Too
21 October 2008
THE Federal Treasury is being pressured to broaden its guarantee on bank deposits to the $280 billion tied up in branches of foreign banks in Australia, amid concerns that wholesale funds are shifting to banks whose deposits are covered... read full story
Inflation Set To Hit 5%
21 October 2008
ECONOMISTS have reaffirmed predictions for more cuts in interest rates despite signs that Australia's inflation rate is set to hit 5% - well beyond the Reserve Bank's target zone... read full story
More Cuts In Bank Interest Rates On Way
20 October 2008
MORE cuts in lending rates are expected as the big banks switch their focus from the hard-pressed housing market to the wider business sector... read full story
Nab And Anz Feel The Pinch
20 October 2008
ANZ and National Australia Bank will provide a sharply contrasting picture of depressed profits to their major two counterparts when they unveil combined annual cash earnings this week of about $7 billion, a drop of $1.3 billion over the past year... read full story
Chill Winds Reach Our Fair Shores
18 October 2008
No matter how big they are, there is no bank in the world that can stand a run. That's why the Government stepped in this week... read full story
Price May Be Right For A Punt On Banks
18 October 2008
The shares of the big four banks are cheap. Their share prices are down as much as 40 per cent from their all-time highs of late last year. Will bank shares pay off handsomely for contrarian investors who take the plunge now? Or will investors end up with a black eye having taken a sucker punch?.. read full story
Nab To Release Accounts Early
17 October 2008
NATIONAL Australia Bank is seeking to head off doubts about its health by rushing forward the release of its accounts, which will show an 11% drop in annual earnings, by two weeks... read full story
Online banking make simple with NAB
17 October 2008
NAB makes online baking so easy to use. .. read full story
Rudd Hatches A Plan To Put The Brakes On Bank Executives' Bulging Bonuses
16 October 2008
The banks hate it, which ensures Rudd's plan will be popular, writes Ruth Williams... read full story
Scramble To Sort Out Bank Guarantees
16 October 2008
PRESSURE is mounting on the Federal Government to spell out details of its guarantee on deposits and banks' wholesale borrowing amid concern the measures could encourage risky behaviour by lenders and leave taxpayer's exposed to billions of dollars of liability... read full story
Banks Face Pressure To 'unwind' Rates
14 October 2008
MAJOR Australian banks are expected to face renewed pressure to unwind any interest rate moves made above the Reserve Bank's cash rate, given that their funding costs are expected to fall with the Federal Government backing the financial system... read full story
Macquarie Bank Has A Bob Each Way
14 October 2008
THE former premier Bob Carr is helping Macquarie Bank to lobby the State Government on a sale of NSW Lotteries, sources have told the Herald... read full story
This Intervention Is Not A Cure-all
14 October 2008
FIRST, the good news. The elevation of regulatory intervention to include insurance for inter-bank borrowing should combine with government purchases of bank shares and takeovers on an as-needs basis to put big new foundations under the global banking system... read full story
Bank Deposits May Be Safe, But Super's Been Hit
13 October 2008
Governments around the world are hastily guaranteeing bank deposits. Unfortunately, most savings are tied up in superannuation. In Australia the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act, 1992 sets out the rules for employers to contribute funds for employees, currently 9 per cent. This has resulted in super funds controlling about $1 trillion, much of which is invested in global sharemarkets. Eighty per cent of bank depositors in Australia have less than $20,000 in their accounts... read full story
Heat On Guarantee Deposits
12 October 2008
AS THE federal cabinet rushed to Canberra yesterday to discuss guaranteeing bank deposits, a leading economist said the Government should stop "mucking around" and back the full amount... read full story
There Is No Real Assurance That Money In The Bank Is Safe
12 October 2008
A HAND gripped my arm. An Irishwoman "of some means" looked me in the eye and said: "I've all my money in cash in Dublin. They're in recession over there, should I bring it to Australia?" What could I say? I told her: Irish banks are guaranteed, Australian banks are not... read full story
A Silver Lining In Bearish Gloom
10 October 2008
EVENTS in the next few days will determine whether the markets can rebuild confidence following Britain's extraordinary bank support package and the co-ordinated round of rate cuts... read full story
Boq Expects Boost To $4b Federal Package
10 October 2008
THE Bank of Queensland expects the Federal Government to increase the size of its $4 billion package aimed at jump-starting mortgage funding markets to help banks and other lenders navigate their way through the global credit freeze... read full story
Boq Makes Decent Hand Of Crisis Time
10 October 2008
BANK of Queensland managing director David Liddy expects the Federal Government to boost the size of its $4 billion package aimed at helping banks and other lenders navigate their way through the global credit freeze... read full story
Cba Moves Fast Beyond Bankwest
10 October 2008
COMMONWEALTH Bank is accelerating the timetable to bed down its $2.1 billion BankWest acquisition, as the banking giant revived talks with Suncorp-Metway on a potential tilt for its lending assets... read full story
Concerted Action Creates A Few Glimmers Of Hope In Crisis Of Confidence
10 October 2008
The markets were calmer after the intervention than they were before it. EVENTS in the next few days will determine whether the markets can rebuild confidence following Britain's extraordinary bank support package and the co-ordinated round of rate cuts. The Australian sharemarket's 1.5% fall yesterday was part of a complicated matrix of responses to the British intervention and the rate cuts that were, on balance, positive... read full story
Cba To End Bankwest's Eastern Expansion
9 October 2008
COMMONWEALTH Bank of Australia will shut down BankWest's aggressive east coast expansion, after the banking giant snapped up the Perth-based lender and wealth management business for $2.1 billion, a deep discount to the value of its assets... read full story
Global Rescue: Banks Cut Rates
9 October 2008
IN A shock move, central banks around the world launched co-ordinated interest rate cuts last night in an attempt to counter the global financial crisis as Britain pumped $1.3 trillion into its ailing bank system... read full story
Capitol Roasting For Bank Chief
8 October 2008
IN A showdown between Main Street and Wall Street, Richard Fuld, the disgraced chief executive of the US investment bank Lehman Brothers, was hauled in front of a congressional committee this week to explain his role in the world financial meltdown... read full story
Cba In Feeding Frenzy As Banking Landscape Gyrates
8 October 2008
COMMONWEALTH Bank will push ahead with talks to acquire Suncorp-Metway's banking operations, even as the banking giant is poised to announce a $2billion-plus acquisition of BankWest as early as today... read full story
Home Buyers To Get Bigger Bonus Than Expected
8 October 2008
MORTGAGE holders will receive the biggest cut to their home loan rates in 16 years after a historic move by the Reserve Bank, despite lenders rejecting calls to pass on the full 1 percentage point rate cut... read full story
It Pays To Let Banks Have Their Cut
8 October 2008
Still cranky that you won't be getting the full benefit of the Reserve Bank's dramatic 1 percentage point reduction in official interest rates? Don't be. Yesterday's super-sized rate cut is all about making sure there is plenty to go around for everyone... read full story
Lucky Country Gambles On All Or Nothing
8 October 2008
THE Reserve Bank has made a dramatic bid to save the Australian economy from recession... read full story
Slash Could Be Part Of A New World Series
8 October 2008
The Reserve Bank's main motivation in slashing the cash rate by a full percentage point was not to give the markets themselves a shot in the arm, but to get a sizeable cut in home loan and business loan costs into the economy as quickly as possible by cutting rates far enough to deliver debt cost savings for both the banks themselves and their customers... read full story
The Reserve's Big Bang
8 October 2008
THE stunning decision by the Reserve Bank to cut interest rates by a full percentage point has shocked local financial markets back into life - at least temporarily - and is set to deliver bigger-than-expected savings to home buyers... read full story
Suncorp Welcomes Bank Suitors
7 October 2008
SUNCORP Metway will push ahead with a formal sales process for its banking and wealth management arm following an approach for the businesses in recent days from three of the nation's biggest banks... read full story
Turnbull Says Banks Must Pass On Rate Cut
7 October 2008
MALCOLM TURNBULL accepts that bank profits will decline because of the global financial crisis but says the institutions could still easily afford to pass on in full any interest rate cut granted today... read full story
Commonwealth Fights Harassment Suit
6 October 2008
A FORMER senior Commonwealth Bank executive has admitted he "made a derogatory comment" about a colleague and occasionally complimented her on her outfits, but denies he sexually harassed her. Angus Patterson, who was Vivienne Dye's direct supervisor in the bank's premium business services division for five months in 2006, says he had a good working relationship with Ms Dye... read full story
Heat On Rba For Big Cut In Interest Rates
6 October 2008
THE Reserve Bank of Australia is under increasing pressure to pass on a bigger than expected cut to interest rates this week, with banks unlikely to pass on the full benefit to customers... read full story
Fifth Epsom Success For Waterhouse
5 October 2008
IF THE late Tommy Smith was known as "The General" of Randwick, his daughter Gai Waterhouse must surely be closing in on that honour after she quinellaed yesterday's Epsom Handicap with Theseo and Bank Robber... read full story
Banks Get In Early- Interest Rate Cut Will Cover Their Costs First
3 October 2008
BANK executives have told the nation's politicians not to expect consumers to get the full benefit of an official interest rate cut likely to be delivered by the Reserve Bank next week... read full story
Banks Get In Early- They'll Pocket Interest Rate Cut To Cover Costs
3 October 2008
AUSTRALIAN bank executives have warned the nation's politicians not to expect consumers to get the full benefit of an official interest rate cut likely to be delivered next week by the Reserve Bank... read full story
Predicament Too Fragile For Turnbull's Tactics
3 October 2008
You have to wonder what Malcolm Turnbull has been smoking after his calls for the banks to pass on 100 per cent of the interest rate cut the Reserve Bank will announce next Tuesday, and his suggestion that the Prime Minister and the Treasurer have wimped it by not demanding the same thing... read full story
Nab Warns Of Extra $400m Hit
1 October 2008
NATIONAL Australia Bank last night warned it will have to spend an additional $400 million over the next five years to insure against potential losses on a troubled $1.6 billion holding of complex debt instruments, mostly backed by US and European corporate loans... read full story
Nab's Safety Net Costs $400m
1 October 2008
NATIONAL Australia Bank warned last night that it would be forced to spend an extra $400 million over the next five years to insure against potential losses on a troubled $1.6 billion holding of complex debt instruments, mostly backed by US and European corporate loans... read full story
Rba Targets $10bn Cash Stockpile
1 October 2008
THE Reserve Bank has urged Australian lenders to channel some of their $10 billion in surplus cash back into wholesale funding markets, by placing the funds into RBA term deposits... read full story
