In a new report on Australia's four major banks, Moody's Investors Service highlighted steady results and rising capital buffers for the six months ended 31 March 2017. All four banks reported non-performing loans below one per cent and credit costs remained well below long-term averages. Looking ahead, Moody's expects profit growth to moderate, given the pressures that the banks face from low interest rates and competition, as well as the potential for rising credit costs and slower credit growth. "Furthermore, the budget that the Australian Government announced earlier this month includes a number of initiatives that, if implemented, will place incremental pressure on the banks' profit growth," the ratings agency warned. HSBC will return to the Australian mortgage broking market after a ten year absence, courtesy of an arrangement that will see it become the 21st lender on the Aussie Home Loans panel.  James Symond, chief executive of Aussie, said the deal with HSBC would provide Aussie's customers with a greater choice of mortgage products, while Alice Del Vecchio, head of mortgages and third party distribution at HSBC Australia said her bank was "ready to stretch its [mortgage book] beyond the geography of our branch network with mortgage brokers."  The Aussie loan book, including its wholesale mortgage aggregator nMB, is over A$75 billion. Global Credit Investments announced the financing of OnDeck Australia's small business loan book was completed by raising A$22.5 million from high-net worth individuals and family offices. Investors will receive a fixed net annual yield of ten per cent over an 18 to 24 month period, along with significant downside protections which mitigate the risk of any capital loss. The financing has been completed via a special purpose bankruptcy remote structure with Perpetual as the trustee. The financing was significantly oversubscribed with strong investor demand, attributed to the robust risk and return characteristics of the investment, GCI said in a media release yesterday. The competition regulator says its new powers over mortgage pricing should make the banks reluctant to pass through the costs of the bank levy to their customers because internal deliberations about such a move would be made public. "Absolutely we will be understanding their internal information so we can see what their decision-making logic was in making whatever changes they make," Mr Sims told The Australian Financial Review. Non-bank lender Liberty Financial is weighing strategic options, including a listing on the ASX boards as the AFR's Street Talk reveals. The financial services company has called in JPMorgan to assist with a review of the Melbourne-based business. The bank is assessing a number of options for Liberty which include an initial public offering or seeking out a private investor for the group. Liberty's profit before tax increased 11 per cent to $73.7 million for the year ended June 30 2016, as loan originations hit $2.5 billion. The lender, which began with a focus on non-conforming home loans has branched into car and business loans, and has total assets of more than $5 billion.