http://www.thesheet.com/index.php The Sheet - better business journalism en-au Copyright The Sheet 2009 hourly 1 1970-01-01T00:00+00:00 http://www.thesheet.com/RDF/manage_head1.gif http://www.thesheet.com/ The Sheet - better business journalism http://www.thesheet.com/nl05_news_selected.php?act=2&selkey=8065 The Australian Securities and Investments commission has taken its first scalp in its campaign against misleading advertising of banking products. The Sheet - Australian Banking and Finance News 2009-03-30T07:22:55+11:00 http://www.thesheet.com/nl05_news_selected.php?act=2&selkey=8064 Big banks usually lag behind the regionals in consumer surveys. It is a truism that small and friendly goes down better with the customers than big and efficient. The Sheet - Australian Banking and Finance News 2009-03-30T07:21:45+11:00 http://www.thesheet.com/nl05_news_selected.php?act=2&selkey=8063 ANZ chief executive Mike Smith told the Australian Financial Review that valuation of potential banking acquisitions in Asia had become more attractive and underpinned his plan to give the bank a stronger regional presence. The Sheet - Australian Banking and Finance News 2009-03-30T07:19:02+11:00 http://www.thesheet.com/nl05_news_selected.php?act=2&selkey=8062 ANZ National became the first New Zealand bank to issue offshore with a New Zealand Government guarantee, when it issued US$1 billion of three-year bonds in the US s144A market on Thursday. The Sheet - Australian Banking and Finance News 2009-03-30T07:17:22+11:00 http://www.thesheet.com/nl05_news_selected.php?act=2&selkey=8061 BHP Billiton has made its second benchmark size offshore bond issue in two weeks. The Sheet - Australian Banking and Finance News 2009-03-30T07:15:52+11:00 http://www.thesheet.com/nl05_news_selected.php?act=2&selkey=8060 The Australian Office of Financial Management announced the next group of three RMBS issues that it has mandated and one of those, Liberty Financial, launched its $600 million Liberty PRIME Series 2009-1 Trust RMBS issue the next day. The Sheet - Australian Banking and Finance News 2009-03-30T07:14:58+11:00 http://www.thesheet.com/nl05_news_selected.php?act=2&selkey=8059 It is not clear how the Public-Private Investment Program, unveiled by US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner last week, will work in practice. The Sheet - Australian Banking and Finance News 2009-03-30T07:14:13+11:00 http://www.thesheet.com/nl05_news_selected.php?act=2&selkey=8058 The German government passed the Finanzmarktstabilisierungsergänzungsgesetz bill (FMStErgG for short) the week before last. The bill allows the government to nationalise important banks in distress and take a more active role in restructuring such banks. The bill was introduced and passed after the government was unsuccessful in securing full control of Hypo Real Estate Bank AG. The Sheet - Australian Banking and Finance News 2009-03-30T07:13:15+11:00 http://www.thesheet.com/nl05_news_selected.php?act=2&selkey=8057 Transurban Finance Company Pty Ltd. had its A3 senior secured rating from Moody’s put on review for possible downgrade. The Sheet - Australian Banking and Finance News 2009-03-30T07:12:18+11:00 http://www.thesheet.com/nl05_news_selected.php?act=2&selkey=8056 Australian bank stocks have enjoyed a second strong week of trading, with the average price of the big four rising 7.9 per cent in the week ending Thursday. The ASX 200 rose 4.8 per cent. The Sheet - Australian Banking and Finance News 2009-03-27T07:07:30+11:00 http://www.thesheet.com/nl05_news_selected.php?act=2&selkey=8055 Whether the Australian government’s move to correct one of the unintended consequences of its guarantee of bank bonds, by offering a similar guarantee to the state governments, really solves any problems or will simply lead to more unintended consequences remains to be seen. The Sheet - Australian Banking and Finance News 2009-03-27T07:04:26+11:00 http://www.thesheet.com/nl05_news_selected.php?act=2&selkey=8054 Woolworths has won the approval of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to go ahead with its epump proposal, but only after changing its plans to overcome the regulator’s concern that it was anti-competitive. The Sheet - Australian Banking and Finance News 2009-03-26T07:00:17+11:00 http://www.thesheet.com/nl05_news_selected.php?act=2&selkey=8053 The Australian government will move to a permanent card-based income management system for indigenous communities and will go to the market for a long-term solution to replace the current BasicsCard supply arrangement. The Sheet - Australian Banking and Finance News 2009-03-26T06:57:13+11:00 http://www.thesheet.com/nl05_news_selected.php?act=2&selkey=8052 When the Medicare Easyclaim system was introduced in 2006 it was set a target of handling 60 per cent of payments at doctors’ surgeries by June 2008. It got to one per cent. The Sheet - Australian Banking and Finance News 2009-03-26T06:55:47+11:00 http://www.thesheet.com/nl05_news_selected.php?act=2&selkey=8051 Just a day after Reserve Bank assistant governor Philip Lowe told the banking industry it needed to do more to develop competitive retail payments infrastructure, RBA governor Glenn Stevens has spoken about the “particular challenges” the central bank has faced in promoting competition and efficiency in the payments system. The Sheet - Australian Banking and Finance News 2009-03-26T06:54:39+11:00 http://www.thesheet.com/nl05_news_selected.php?act=2&selkey=8050 Investec Bank Australia chairman David Gonski yesterday announced that former Allco Finance Group chief executive David Clarke would take over as CEO. The Sheet - Australian Banking and Finance News 2009-03-26T06:52:37+11:00 http://www.thesheet.com/nl05_news_selected.php?act=2&selkey=8049 ANZ will seek regulatory approval for a 100 per cent owned Chinese subsidiary, the bank announced yesterday. The Sheet - Australian Banking and Finance News 2009-03-26T06:51:24+11:00 http://www.thesheet.com/nl05_news_selected.php?act=2&selkey=8048 Almost a third of Australians with a mortgage said they would skip a home loan repayment in preference to doing without utilities and basic consumer items. The Sheet - Australian Banking and Finance News 2009-03-26T06:47:42+11:00 http://www.thesheet.com/nl05_news_selected.php?act=2&selkey=8047 The banking industry has some work to do to strengthen competition in payments if Australia is to maintain a world-class payments system, a senior Reserve Bank officer said yesterday. The Sheet - Australian Banking and Finance News 2009-03-25T07:03:01+11:00 http://www.thesheet.com/nl05_news_selected.php?act=2&selkey=8046 Reserve Bank assistant governor Philip Lowe yesterday gave his seal of approval to the outcome of the new ATM direct charging system, declaring that “most card holders are paying no more for ATM transactions than before and some are paying less.” The Sheet - Australian Banking and Finance News 2009-03-25T07:01:47+11:00 http://www.thesheet.com/nl05_news_selected.php?act=2&selkey=8045 As this publication flagged on Monday, Tabcorp has announced a retail bond issue to raise approximately $200 million. The bonds will be listed on the ASX with a minimum subscription parcel size of $5000. The Sheet - Australian Banking and Finance News 2009-03-25T07:00:44+11:00 http://www.thesheet.com/nl05_news_selected.php?act=2&selkey=8044 The Australian Office of Financial Management announced the allocation of a further three RMBS mandates from its second selection round. This follows the pricing of the AMP Banking issue on Monday, the last of the first three RMBS issues mandated in the second selection round. The Sheet - Australian Banking and Finance News 2009-03-25T06:59:24+11:00 http://www.thesheet.com/nl05_news_selected.php?act=2&selkey=8043 Foreign banks are missing out in the rush to gather deposits, according to the latest data from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority. The Sheet - Australian Banking and Finance News 2009-03-25T06:57:11+11:00 http://www.thesheet.com/nl05_news_selected.php?act=2&selkey=8042 Myer chief executive Bernie Brooks said the group would look at developing a financial services business when the current turnaround at the big retailer has been completed. The Sheet - Australian Banking and Finance News 2009-03-25T06:55:51+11:00 http://www.thesheet.com/nl05_news_selected.php?act=2&selkey=8041 Standard & Poor’s released a report on the stability of the credit quality of the Australian states last week. The report was in response to questions received after S&P recently lowered its long-term credit rating on Queensland to AA+ from AAA, and also questions received after the outlook change to negative on New South Wales’ AAA long-term credit rating, in August last year. The Sheet - Australian Banking and Finance News 2009-03-25T06:53:29+11:00 http://www.thesheet.com/nl05_news_selected.php?act=2&selkey=8040 The Bendigo & Adelaide board has picked the head of retail banking, Mike Hirst, as the new managing director and chief executive officer. The Sheet - Australian Banking and Finance News 2009-03-24T06:44:56+11:00 http://www.thesheet.com/nl05_news_selected.php?act=2&selkey=8039 The third of the mortgage funders to have received support in the latest round of government support for RMBS issuers, AMP Banking, priced its issue yesterday. The Sheet - Australian Banking and Finance News 2009-03-24T06:42:08+11:00 http://www.thesheet.com/nl05_news_selected.php?act=2&selkey=8038 Banks continue to pitch for a bigger share of deposits and yesterday it was BankWest’s turn to try a new angle. The bank launched a savings account that will pay a bonus interest rate each month if there are no transactions. The Sheet - Australian Banking and Finance News 2009-03-24T06:40:53+11:00 http://www.thesheet.com/nl05_news_selected.php?act=2&selkey=8037 Almost half of all ATM transactions in Australia are foreign ATM transactions incurring charges. The Sheet - Australian Banking and Finance News 2009-03-24T06:39:55+11:00 http://www.thesheet.com/nl05_news_selected.php?act=2&selkey=8036 The Commonwealth Bank got the jump on its rivals last week when chief executive Ralph Norris announced that the bank had made a significant change to its hardship provisions, by providing for mortgage repayment holidays of up to a year, but rival banks will not be far behind. The Sheet - Australian Banking and Finance News 2009-03-24T06:38:52+11:00