The Reserve Bank has appointed David Jacobs as head of domestic markets. Jacobs was most recently the RBA’s deputy secretary and before that deputy head of the international department. In his new job he will oversee the RBA’s analysis of conditions in domestic financial markets and the bank’s open market operations. His appointment follows the resignation of Jonathan Kearns late last year. Bank of Queensland group general counsel Nicholas Allton is leaving the bank, in what may be the beginning of an executive shakeup under executive chair Patrick Allaway. Company secretary Fiona Daly will assume the role of general counsel. S&P Global Ratings structured finance analysts expect arrears rates for prime mortgages to "meaningfully increase" after conversion of fixed-rate loans to variable rate loans. "The largest concentration of outstanding fixed-rate loans is set to roll over to variable rates in H2 2023," S&P noted in a presentation yesterday. Exposure to fixed-rate loans, by balance, in the RMBS sector is just 16 per cent, but this varies by transaction. "Many borrowers have split loans, with both variable and fixed rate components," S&P's analysts said, adding that non-bank lenders had almost no exposure to fixed interest loans. However, any drop in loan quality (ie increased arrears rates) is likely to be short-lived, with interest rates forecast to decline in 2024.