The decision to hold the rate steady at a record-low 1.5 percent means Lowe avoids entering a general election debate late in the campaign and keeps his limited policy ammunition preserved should the economy worsen. While acknowledging "subdued inflationary pressures across much of the economy," the Reserve Bank governor cited lower housing-related costs and government efforts to ease cost-of-living pressures. “The RBA has upped the labor market ante,” said Michael Blythe, chief economist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
What’s curious is that Commonwealth – the biggest of the four banks that dominate deposit-taking and lending in Australia – is acting an awful lot like cornered prey when things don’t seem so bad. For another, Commonwealth Bank is head and shoulders above its rivals on two crucial fronts: price-to-book and net interest margins. Commonwealth Bank has the largest workforce among Australia’s big four banks, and the second-lowest sales-per-employee ratio in the most recent half-year reporting period, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Moody's Investors Service has assigned definitive ratings to the notes issued by Perpetual Corporate Trust Limited in its capacity as the trustee of the Flexi ABS Trust 2019-1. "IMPORTANT NOTICE: MOODY'S RATINGS AND PUBLICATIONS ARE NOT INTENDED FOR USE BY RETAIL INVESTORS.
Moody's Investors Service has assigned ratings to Delta Air Lines, Inc.'s Pass Through Certificates, Series 2019-1 that the company announced earlier today: $425 million Class AA with a legal final due date of October 25, 2025 at Aa3 and $75 million Class A with a legal final due date of October 25, 2025 at A3 (together, "the Certificates"). The senior unsecured rating of Delta is Baa3, its rating outlook is stable and neither is affected by this rating action.
After a year of bruising interrogation, Australia's oligopoly banking system has emerged from a government-appointed inquiry with reputations tarnished and some top executives removed - but also an unexpected opportunity to rebuild. Proposed reforms to the mortgage broking industry revealed on Monday will potentially put billions of dollars of broker-originated loans in play in the banks' most important profit-generating sector. Australia's "Big Four" banks - Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank and Westpac Banking Corp - now have the opportunity to battle for the money projected to leak from the mortgage broking sector and capture extra margins by cutting out an intermediary.
Half Year 2019 Commonwealth Bank of Australia Earnings Presentation
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Commonwealth Bank of Australia recorded a drop in statutory net drop in its latest half-year to 4.6 billion Australian dollars ($3.3 billion) on Wednesday as the nation's biggest lender was hit by costs for misconduct, lower profit margins and a downturn in the housing market.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the country's biggest lender, posted a weaker than expected first-half profit on Wednesday as rising costs and fierce competition for mortgages squeezed its margins, sending its shares down sharply. The result reflects the pincer action that is putting a brake on profit growth in Australian banks: global market turmoil is making it more expensive for them to borrow money, while a housing downturn spurs competition for new customers. The inquiry's final report, published on Monday, recommended regulators consider prosecutions for 24 misconduct cases which may include CBA.
Australian bank shares surged the most in a decade on Tuesday after a long-awaited report on finance-sector misconduct recommended dozens of rule changes but spared the "Big Four" lenders any serious threat to their market dominance. In a report released by the government on Monday, the retired judge who led a public inquiry into financial-sector misconduct last year, referred 24 cases to regulators for possible prosecution. "It is possible that the banks may face criminal proceedings but we do not believe that any of the 76 recommendations by themselves will have a material financial impact," UBS analysts said in a research note.
A special government-appointed inquiry excoriated Australia's financial sector for misconduct on Monday, referring two dozen cases to regulators for possible legal action but leaving the structure of the country's powerful banks in place. Regulators will be subjected to a new oversight body and the financial industry's pay will be overhauled to remove conflicts of interest, according to the recommendations of the so-called Royal Commission. The recommendations come after the public inquiry heard 11 months of shocking revelations of the financial industry's wrongdoing, including that fees were charged to the accounts of dead people and that cash bribes were paid over the counter to win mortgage business, wiping A$60 billion from the country's top finance stocks.
The CEO and chairman of National Australia Bank Ltd were called out for apparent unwillingness to accept responsibility for past wrongs at the country's No. 4 lender in a landmark report on the sector, published on Monday. After a year-long inquiry, the financial services Royal Commission recommended referring some of the country's biggest money managers to regulators for possible further action in 24 cases, but largely avoided naming individuals. "Having heard from both the CEO, Mr Thorburn, and the Chair, Dr Henry, I am not as confident as I would wish to be that the lessons of the past have been learned," wrote the retired High Court judge who ran the inquiry, Kenneth Hayne, in his final report.
Australia's corporate regulators will be subjected to a new oversight body in a shake-up of the banking sector recommended on Monday by a high-powered independent inquiry into financial sector greed and malpractice. The government-appointed inquiry known as a Royal Commission also advised in its landmark report that remuneration structures across the industry be overhauled to remove systemic conflicts of interest. The commission's recommendations were released by the government after 11 months of shocking revelations of financial wrongdoing which wiped A$60 billion (33.22 billion pounds) from the country's top finance stocks.
SYDNEY (Reuters) - A powerful public inquiry into Australia's finance industry referred 24 instances of bad corporate behaviour to regulators for possible prosecution but did not suggest any individuals ...
Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg on Monday said the final report of a wide-scale inquiry into the banking system would end uncertainty hanging over an industry that was "a key artery" of the economy through the provision of credit. Speaking at a news conference after the release of the Royal Commission report into banking misconduct, Frydenberg said the principle focus of the government was to restore trust in the financial system while maintaining the flow of credit to the economy.