Latest news and insights on banking and finance in Australia and New Zealand, as delivered in the daily 7am Banking Day email news service (subscribe or take out a free trial).
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Kiwis cap RBNZ currency action
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31 March 2004 12:00amThe Reserve Bank of New Zealand will receive only two out of three requested doses of additional funding from the New Zealand government in order to support the central bank's plan to take a more interventionist approach to the foreign exchange market. » read more »
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Middle market, small business sustains lenders
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31 March 2004 12:00amThere's a widening divide between the borrowing plans of big business, the middle market and small business, but on the whole good news for lenders in the latest survey of business borrowing plans by East & Partners and JP Morgan. » read more »
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Commonwealth wins relationship share
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31 March 2004 12:00amPaul Dowling, principal analyst at East writes in the report that over the past six months, Commonwealth Bank has gained most in primary transaction banking relationships, while National Australia Bank appears to have stemmed its run of losses in the share of lead transaction banker. Westpac has also steadied its falling market share of relationships, while ANZ's growing share of primary relationships seems to have plateaued, and declined marginally in the latest set of figures. Those primary banking relationship market shares among the top 500 as measured by East at February 2004 are: » read more »
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Financial managers still don't pay down their credit cards
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31 March 2004 12:00amOne persistent theme of East and JP Morgan's surveys of financial managers is the approach to personal financial management of chief financial officers. Only 19 per cent top 500 CFOs and 46 per cent of financial managers in the commercial pay their credit card balance down to zero each month. In the small business segment, 62 per cent do so. » read more »
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CFOs prefer investment loans
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31 March 2004 12:00amChief financial officers and other financial managers are happy to keep on borrowing in their own right, but not for anything exotic. Like many Australians, CFO's prefer to borrow to buy property. » read more »
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National risk adviser not yet appointed
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31 March 2004 12:00amNational Australia Bank yesterday advised that the bank was still to appoint the external risk management consultancy that the chief executive, John Stewart, recently foreshadowed the bank would hire. » read more »
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ANZ off Targett
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29 March 2004 12:00amANZ Bank over the weekend confirmed part of Crikey's Friday report from afternoon that Steve Targett, currently the head of wholesale and institutional banking at Lloyds TSB in Britain, would return to Australia and take up the equivalent job at ANZ. » read more »
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Westpac tops cards revolve rate
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29 March 2004 12:00amFollowing up the report here on Friday on Westpac's grumbles about its disappointment with the revolve rate on the bank's credit card portfolio, one card's insider tells this journal that the up to date (or pre Christmas, at least) revolve rates for the four major banks are: » read more »
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In defence of Catherine Walter
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29 March 2004 12:00amThis journal's barracking for Catherine Walter in the National Australia Bank board brawl, on the grounds that if one director's to be dumped for being asleep on the job ahead of the foreign exchange option losses, they all deserve the sack for the same reason. In addition, old fashioned and outrageous sexism seems to have a lot to do with the lads' discontent with Walter's dissent. » read more »
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Promontory takes on National risk management review
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29 March 2004 12:00amOne of Caterine Walter's memo's referred to above shows that Gene Ludwig, a former comptroller of the currency (that is, head of one of the many banking regulators) in the United States may be undertaking part of the wider risk management review foreshadowed by chief executive John Stewart. » read more »
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Large exposures leap
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26 March 2004 12:00amDemand for large licks of loans from big business is pretty slack in the banking, so perhaps as a result some banks are willing to stretch limits on large exposures to drum up business. » read more »
