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☆ Aussie 'big four' banks hike home loan rates after RBA decision
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

People use Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) bank ATMs in Sydney, Australia May 3, 2018. The National Australia Bank (NAB.AX), ANZ Group Holdings (ANZ.AX) and Westpac Banking Corp (WBC.AX), the other three of Australia's "big four", had hiked their home loan rates on Wednesday by 0.25%. The rate hike by the National Australia Bank (NAB.AX) and ANZ Group Holdings (ANZ.AX) would be effective from Nov. 17, while Westpac Banking Corp (WBC.AX) would raise rates from Nov. 21, the lenders said in separate statements on Wednesday. CBA said its home loan variable rate change would be effective from Nov. 17. Reporting by Rishav Chatterjee and Upasana Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Rashmi AichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Edgar Su, Rishav Chatterjee, Upasana Singh, Savio D'Souza, Rashmi Organizations: Commonwealth Bank of Australia, REUTERS, Thursday, National Australia Bank, ANZ Group Holdings, Westpac Banking Corp, Reserve Bank of Australia, Wednesday, CBA, Thomson Locations: Sydney, Australia, Bengaluru

☆ Australia fines lender ANZ $9.6 mln for misleading customers over funds
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FILE PHOTO: A pedestrian is reflected in the window of a branch of ANZ in central Sydney, Australia, October 25, 2017. The Australian lender falsely indicated to customers that they could avail cash advance from funds stated to be their 'Available Funds' without incurring fees and interest, according to the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC). The error resulted in customers being charged with thousands of dollars in fees while the average remediation paid was around $45 per affected account. "Many ANZ customers relied on the account information displayed by the bank and were charged fees that were inconsistent with that information," said ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court. "ANZ accepts responsibility for what has occurred and apologises to its customers, and has addressed the issues that gave rise to the contraventions," the lender said.

Persons: Steven Saphore, Sarah, Himanshi Akhand, Aishwarya Nair, Sherry Jacob, Phillips Organizations: ANZ, REUTERS, ANZ Group Holdings, Australian Securities & Investments Commission, National Consumer Credit, Thomson Locations: Sydney, Australia, Bengaluru

☆ Not much exciting about Aussie banks as high costs pressure earnings - Macquarie
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Australia's "Big Four" banks - among the top seven listed companies in the country - control 75% of the country's A$2 trillion mortgage market. That euphoria is now largely over as high living costs impact borrowers' capacity to repay loans. Macquarie, an investment bank with a small retail banking operation, said banks' cost bases are likely to remain under pressure as more than 70% of their expenses related to personnel. Macquarie added that it expects banks' expenses to grow by around 1% to 7% in fiscal 2023 through to fiscal 2025, with third-biggest lender Westpac Banking Corp (WBC.AX) seen being impacted more than its peers. The regional banks will remain disadvantaged in the current environment as they will have to continue to invest to keep up, Macquarie said, estimating up to 4% higher expenses than consensus.

Persons: Macquarie, Sameer Manekar, Janane Organizations: Macquarie, Westpac Banking Corp, ANZ Group Holdings, CBA, NAB, Adelaide Bank, Bank of Queensland, Thomson Locations: Bendigo, Bengaluru

☆ Not much exciting about Aussie banks as high costs pressure earnings, Macquarie says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Persons: Loren Elliott, Macquarie, Sameer Manekar, Janane Organizations: Central Business, REUTERS, Macquarie, Westpac Banking Corp, ANZ Group Holdings, CBA, NAB, Adelaide Bank, Bank of Queensland, Thomson Locations: Sydney, Australia, Bendigo, Bengaluru

☆ ANZ Group reports higher late mortgage payments in stiff market
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A pedestrian is reflected in the window of a branch of the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) in central Sydney, Australia, October 25, 2017. REUTERS/Steven Saphore/File Photo/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSummaryCompanies Reports rise in customer depositsMarginal increase in gross impaired assetsAug 17 (Reuters) - ANZ Group Holdings (ANZ.AX) said on Thursday late mortgage repayments past 90 days edged higher in the June quarter but were still below historic levels while logging higher customer deposits in a stiff market. The country's fourth-largest bank is still dealing with rising financial stress among mortgage customers as higher cash interest rates put pressure on its margins. "Liability portfolio mix continued a shift towards higher interest rate, lower margin, savings accounts and term deposits," ANZ said in a statement. ANZ recorded a continued growth in retail and institutional customer deposits while flagging a marginal rise in its gross impaired assets.

Persons: Steven Saphore, Rishav Chatterjee, Nausheen, Shilpi Majumdar, Sherry Jacob, Phillips Organizations: New Zealand Banking Group, ANZ, REUTERS, ANZ Group Holdings, Thomson Locations: Australia, Sydney, Bengaluru

☆ Australian competition regulator rejects $3.2 bln ANZ-Suncorp Bank deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Lucy CraymerAug 4 (Reuters) - Australia's competition regulator said on Friday it had denied authorisation for ANZ Group Holdings (ANZ.AX) to proceed with its proposed A$4.9 billion ($3.21 billion) acquisition of Suncorp Group's banking arm. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said it was not satisfied that the acquisition would not lessen competition in the supply of home loans to Australian customers. "Evidence we obtained strongly indicates that the major banks consider the second-tier banks to be a competitive threat," ACCC Deputy Chair Mick Keogh said in a statement. Keogh said the proposed acquisition would further "entrench an oligopoly" structure, with the country's four major banks dominating. "We believe the acquisition will improve competition, which will benefit Australian consumers, particularly in Queensland," ANZ said in a statement, noting that the ACCC's decision can be reviewed by the independent Australian Competition Tribunal.

Persons: Lucy Craymer, Mick Keogh, Keogh, Himanshi, Shri Navaratnam, Subhranshu Organizations: ANZ Bank, REUTERS, ANZ Group Holdings, Suncorp, Australian Competition, Consumer Commission, ANZ, Australian Competition Tribunal, Thomson Locations: Lambton Quay, Wellington , New Zealand, Melbourne, Queensland, Bengaluru

☆ Aussie competition regulator delays decision on ANZ's $3.3 bln Suncorp Bank buy
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 24 (Reuters) - Australia's competition regulator on Monday said it has delayed its decision on ANZ Group Holdings' (ANZ.AX) proposed A$4.9 billion ($3.30 billion) acquisition of Suncorp Bank (SUN.AX) by a week to August 4, and has requested a further extension of one week. "It is important that the ACCC has the opportunity to meaningfully consider the new information provided by ANZ and take it into account in its decision making," the regulator said. ANZ, the country's fourth-largest bank, in its response on Friday consented to an extension till August 4. This is the second time the regulator has sought an extension to its decision after the original deadline of mid-June was extended to late July. ($1 = 1.4865 Australian dollars)Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H KOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Sameer Manekar, Varun Organizations: ANZ Group Holdings, Suncorp Bank, Australian Competition, Consumer Commission, ANZ, ACCC, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ National Australia Bank to change home loan refinancing criteria
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

July 7 (Reuters) - National Australia Bank (NAB) (NAB.AX) on Friday said it would refresh its approach to like-for-like refinancing criteria to help customers who would otherwise fail to meet an industry standard that assesses their ability to repay loans. Last month, top lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AX) cut its buffer rate for some borrowers refinancing their existing home loan to 1% from the industry standard of 3%. After NAB, ANZ Group Holdings (ANZ.AX) is the only bank left among the top four to ease refinancing loans criteria for customers unable to meet APRA standard. NAB said the changes to its refinancing criteria will apply from July 21, but added that it will take a "case-by-case" approach when assessing appropriate serviceability. Reporting by Himanshi Akhand and Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H KOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Himanshi Akhand, Sameer Manekar, Varun Organizations: National Australia Bank, NAB, Reuters, The, Prudential Regulation Authority, APRA, Reserve Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac Banking Corp, ANZ Group Holdings, ANZ, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ Factbox: Penalties imposed on Australian companies over the recent years
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Here are some of the major penalties imposed by the regulators:AMP LTD (AMP.AX)Troubled Australian wealth manager AMP Ltd was fined a court-mandated penalty of A$24 million in May for billing dead clients for insurance and financial advice. In October 2022, ANZ was penalised A$25 million for failing to provide certain benefits it had agreed to give customers. In October 2022, CBA's trading unit was fined A$20 million for compliance failures in delivering financial services. NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK (NAB.AX)National Australia Bank, the country's second-largest bank, was charged A$18.5 million penalty in August 2021 by a court for issuing misleading fee disclosure statements or none at all. WESTPAC BANKING CORP (WBC.AX)Australia's third-biggest lender, Westpac Banking Corp was ordered to pay A$113 million in penalties in April 2022 for multiple compliance failures across its businesses.

2 lender, fell short of analyst forecasts in half-year profit released on Thursday and took a hit to its share price after warning that the windfall from rising interest rates had peaked. The update signals a tough new phase for Australia's lenders which have benefited from a year of rising interest rates by charging more to borrowers while limiting the amount they pay deposit-holders. "What the market's concerned about is the exit NIM (net interest margin)," said Hugh Dive, chief investment officer at Atlas Funds Management which holds bank stocks. In personal banking, which includes mortgages, profit shrank slightly due to a A$393 million impairment charge. The bank had telephoned 7,000 borrowers deemed to be most vulnerable to rising interest rates and just 13 had requested assistance.

☆ ANZ's half-year profit tops estimates but outlook downbeat
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Competition in retail banking is as intense as it has ever been, both in Australia and New Zealand," Chief Executive Officer Shayne Elliott said. 2 lender National Australia bank (NAB.AX) said its margins had peaked during the last half and warned of uncertainties amid a tougher credit environment ahead. ANZ's net interest margin, a key gauge of profitability, was at 1.75% at the end of March, compared with 1.58% last year. Margins at the Australian lender have swelled from a series of interest rate hikes by the central bank since May last year, but analysts have warned margins could plateau going forward. ($1 = 1.4945 Australian dollars)Reporting by Navya Mittal and Savyata Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju SamuelOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.S. banks fallout will intensify margin headwinds for Aussie lenders, UBS says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Australian banks are "well regulated" and carry strong liquidity coverage ratios, UBS said. Regulators and bankers insist the country's banks, bolstered by post-global financial crisis reforms, are well placed to handle the solvency and liquidity shocks that rocked lenders overseas like Silicon Valley Bank in the United States. Competition for mortgages, accounting for anywhere between 45% and 65% of net interest income of banks, "has never been fiercer," with some banks "sub-economically" pricing new business, UBS said. Still, the brokerage expects the bank to report strong first half earnings on sustained operational momentum. Three of the "Big Four" banks barring CBA lost between 1% and 5% from March 10 when the first signs of trouble surfaced at the tech-focused lender Silicon Valley Bank.

☆ Australia regulator seeks risk reports from banks on startups, crypto -report
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SYDNEY, March 22 (Reuters) - Australia's prudential regulator has started asking the country's banks to declare their exposure to startups and crypto-focused ventures following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, according to the Australian Financial Review (AFR). The APRA declined to comment on the report but referred to its statement last week that it would intensify supervision of the local banking industry and seek more information on any potential impact from Silicon Valley Bank's collapse. ANZ Group Holdings (ANZ.AX) declined to comment, while Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AX), Westpac Banking Corp (WBC.AX) and National Australia Bank (NAB.AX) did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment. Treasurer Jim Chalmers last week said Australia was in a good position to withstand some of the market volatility because the country's banks were well capitalised, well regulated and had strong liquidity. Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Jamie FreedOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/4] A combination of photographs shows people using automated teller machines (ATMs) at Australia's "Big Four" banks - Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (bottom R), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (top R), National Australia Bank Ltd (bottom L) and Westpac Banking Corp (top L). REUTERS/StaffSYDNEY, March 17 (Reuters) - An A$300 billion ($201.21 billion) refinancing task for Australia's biggest banks is about to get harder, say analysts, as appetite for new debt shrinks across global markets roiled by concerns about bank stability and liquidity. "Now major banks don't have to hit markets everyday... but ultimately banks can't stay out of the market forever." Refinancing today would add extra 5 to 10 basis points to banks' costs versus a week and a half ago, he added. ($1 = 1.4910 Australian dollars)Reporting by Lewis Jackson and Scott Murdoch; Editing by Simon Cameron-MooreOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

March 14 (Reuters) - Australia's economic health will be its central bank's compass for plotting the course of rate hikes, as stringent regulation insulates its banking sector from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) (SIVB.O), analysts at top domestic banks said. Analysts at three of the top four lenders - Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AX), National Australia Bank (NAB.AX), and ANZ Group Holdings (ANZ.AX) - continue to expect the RBA to deliver its 11th consecutive rate hike next month. 0#RBAWATCH"The Australian domestic fundamentals remain consistent with further tightening from the RBA," Adelaide Timbrell, senior economist at ANZ Research said. Australian banking sector, while not immune to the collapse of SVB, is in a "more insulated" position, Rodrigo Catril, senior FX strategist at NAB said. Globally, banking stocks have taken a hit from the collapse of SVB despite of assurances from U.S. authorities, prompting a reassessment of interest rate expectations.

☆ Australian court fines ANZ Group $6.6 mln for breaching consumer protection laws
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 10 (Reuters) - An Australian court has fined ANZ Group Holdings (ANZ.AX) A$10 million ($6.6 million) in penalties for non-compliance with consumer credit protection laws in a case that stems from the country's Royal Commission proceedings, a corporate watchdog said on Friday. The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) said the fine related to the lender's home loan introducer program – that allowed third parties to refer customers for home loans – between March 2017 and March 2018. The court case stems from a 2017 Royal Commission inquiry into Australia's financial services industry, which ended up exposing widespread misconduct in the sector. "ANZ has cooperated with ASIC during this process, is nearing completion of a customer remediation program and has made changes to its home loan processes," the bank said. ($1 = 1.5161 Australian dollars)Reporting by Navya Mittal in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'SouzaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Australia's 'Big Four' banks to hike home loan rates to match RBA move
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 9 (Reuters) - Australia's so-called 'Big Four' banks said on Thursday they would pass on the central bank's latest quarter-percentage point interest rate hike in full to their home loan customers. Among the top four lenders, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AX), National Australia Bank (NAB.AX), and ANZ Group Holdings (ANZ.AX) will hike their rates from March 17, while Westpac Banking Corp's (WBC.AX) will hike its rates from March 21, the banks said in separate statements. Interest rates in the country have already gone up by 350 bps since last May, when they were at an all-time low of 0.1%. However, RBA Governor Philip Lowe said the central bank was closer to pausing its aggressive cycle of rate increases as policy was now in restrictive territory, and suggested a halt could come as soon as April. Reporting by Navya Mittal and Himanshi Akhand in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi AichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Australia's ANZ shareholders approve new holding structure
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Reuters Staff | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

FILE PHOTO: A man talks on his phone in front of an ANZ Banking corporation tower in central Sydney, Australia February 20, 2018. REUTERS/Daniel Munoz/File Photo(Reuters) - Australia and New Zealand Banking Group said on Thursday its shareholders voted to establish a new holding company to separate its banking and non-banking businesses into two different groups. The move was initially announced in May, in an effort to prevent non-banking activities from affecting banking customers, a method several global banks have employed. 99.17% of votes were cast in favor of creating the non-operating holding company, ANZ Group Holdings Limited, which is expected to begin trading on the Australian and New Zealand exchanges from Jan. 4, 2023, ANZ said. The new corporate structure will need a court approval before it is implemented, which the bank expects to come by Dec. 19, it added.

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