Salaries in the finance sector increased by three per cent last financial year, a survey by recruitment website Seek found. Across all industries salaries lifted 2.7 per cent, Seek said. It also found that 53 per cent of all banking and finance staff qualified for a bonus, compared with 20 per cent of the wider workforce.
 HSBC Bank Australia aims to expand its real estate finance business with the appointment of Daniel McLean as head of real estate finance. McLean has worked at National Australia Bank and Macquarie Bank in corporate and institutional banking. Most recently he was with Ernst & Young in London, where he worked on capital raising, M&A and debt capital markets for real estate funds and companies. Westpac's chief executive Brian Hartzer has been urged to set out a plan for cost reductions at the bank's strategy update on Monday, including reducing the number of branches, which has been inflated since the acquisition of St George during the financial crisis. So says the AFR, citing a couple of bank analysts' client notes. Demand for fixed rate mortgages has fallen to a near three-year low, according to Mortgage Choice. Fixed rate loans accounted for 17.4 per cent of mortgages written by Mortgage Choice brokers in August - down from 18.5 per cent in July and the lowest level since January 2013. Mortgage Choice chief executive John Flavell said the drop was a little surprising given the volatile conditions in the home loan market, which would normally prompt borrowers to opt for certainty. Arrears for housing loans underlying prime residential mortgage-backed securities in Australia remain relatively low because borrowers are benefiting from low interest rates, according to a recent report by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services. Nevertheless, overall arrears increased marginally during the second quarter of 2015 from the previous quarter. In Western Australia, which is feeling the effects of a slowdown in mining activity, arrears climbed to 1.49 per cent during Q2, the highest of all states and territories. Prepayment rates have continued to trend upward as borrowers take advantage of lower interest rates and refinancing opportunities.