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Centrepoint Alliance, a niche provider of insurance premium funding, will change its focus and make financial planning its primary business under plans announced on Friday to merge with Professional.. read more

GE Capital is generating more profit from a reduced asset base in Australia, and releasing plenty of cash for its owner, General Electric Company' as well. read more

Australian Finance Group received an external valuation on the firm late last year of $130 million, documents relating to the issue of bonus shares to select directors and filed with ASIC show. read more

One topic addressed in the Henry tax review, published yesterday, is the unsatisfactory, but pragmatic, arrangements for the treatment of financial services under the form of value added tax (or goo.. read more

The Henry review endorsed the argument of many foreign banks, and banking industry associations, that withholding tax on interest payments tended to distort capital flows. read more

Extension of the resource rent tax from offshore oil and gas to all land-based mining activities is the centrepiece of the tax policy measures announced yesterday by the Australian government. read more

The taxation of savings, and especially the taxation of bank interest, is one area canvassed by the Henry review where the government is suggesting it may take a closer look. read more

Specific taxes on insurance deserve to be abolished, the Henry tax review concluded - not that there is any sign of the federal or state governments taking notice of this in the short term. read more

The era of credit rationing may be coming to a close, at least for the biggest businesses. read more

ANZ is taking a brighter view of the outlook for credit quality in Australia but maintaining a dour assessment of prospects in New Zealand. read more