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☆ Australia regulator targets 'carbon neutral' claims in greenwashing crackdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Office buildings are seen amidst the easing of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions in the Central Business District of Sydney, Australia, June 3, 2020. ASIC has filed three lawsuits alleging unfounded environmental claims by two pension funds and a personal finance platform, and named so-called greenwashing as one of its priority enforcement areas for 2024. she added.,The regulator would hold investment distribution platforms accountable for the products they sell. So far, the regulator had issued interim orders to stop the distribution of some 80 investment products which it considered inappropriate. "For a number of those stop orders, the issuers of the products did step back, they've corrected ... and they've reissued it," she said.

Persons: Loren Elliott, Sarah Court, they've, Byron Kaye, Ayushman, Subhranshu Sahu, Miral Organizations: Central Business District of, REUTERS, Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Thomson Locations: Central Business District of Sydney, Australia, Melbourne, Sydney

It said it would tender for a new external auditor as part of "best practice for audit firm rotation". PwC has audited Westpac since 2002, before which PwC partners and their ancestor firms had audited the bank since 1968. However, PwC's lead Westpac audit partner assumed the role less than two years ago, in December 2021, according to a Westpac governance statement this month. A PwC Australia spokesperson said the firm understood the board's decision and was proud of its time as Westpac's auditor. Renamed Scyne Advisory, roughly 1,400 of PwC Australia's more than 9,000 staff moved over to the new firm.

Persons: Loren Elliott, PwC, Lewis Jackson, Christopher Cushing, Robert Birsel Organizations: Westpac, Central Business District of, REUTERS, Rights, Westpac Group, PricewaterhouseCoopers, PwC's, Google, Uber Technologies, Facebook, Meta, PwC, Scyne Advisory, Scyne, Thomson Locations: Central Business District of Sydney, Australia, PwC Australia

☆ Dollar steady as risk rally eases, Reserve Bank of Australia in focus
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A man walking past the Reserve Bank of Australia in the central business district of Sydney on June 7, 2022. The dollar was steady on Tuesday, holding overnight gains as investors took a breather from a risk rally, while the Australian currency drifted lower ahead of a central bank interest rates decision later in the day. All eyes in Asian hours will be on the Reserve Bank of Australia, which is widely expected to raise rates by 25 basis points, snapping four months of on hold policy decisions. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari said on Monday the U.S. central bank likely has more work ahead of it to control inflation. The yen hit 151.74 per dollar last week, edging closer to October 2022 lows that spurred several rounds of dollar-selling intervention.

Persons: Carol Kong, Neel Kashkari, Jerome Powell, Powell, CBA's, Sterling, Kazuo Ueda Organizations: Reserve Bank of Australia, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, New Zealand, Fed, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, U.S, Bank of Japan Locations: Sydney, Tokyo

☆ Australia's Westpac warns of $109 mln hit to fiscal 2023 profit
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The bank sees an increase in provisions for customer refunds and associated payments and restructuring costs, among others, in fiscal 2023. Westpac reported a net profit attributable of A$5.69 billion in fiscal 2022. The company noted that the notable items recorded in fiscal 2023 are significantly lower than the notable items of A$874 million recorded in fiscal 2022. The net impact of these one-off items will reduce the bank's common equity tier 1 capital ratio by 4 basis points, it added. ($1 = 1.5855 Australian dollars)(This story has been corrected to say Westpac warns of a hit, not lower fiscal 2023 profit, in the headline)Reporting by Roushni Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh KuberOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Loren Elliott, Roushni Nair, Shailesh Organizations: Westpac, Central Business District of, REUTERS, Westpac Banking Corp, Thomson Locations: Central Business District of Sydney, Australia, Bengaluru

☆ Australia's Westpac fails to sell pacific banking business
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A woman exits the ground floor of an office building with Westpac logo amidst the easing of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions in the Central Business District of Sydney, Australia, June 3, 2020. "Any failure to successfully divest businesses means that we may have sustained exposure to higher operating costs and to the higher inherent risks in those businesses," Westpac had told the market during its interim results in May. The bank would be starting a new brand campaign in the months ahead in both the countries in a move to improve its standing in local markets, Anthony Miller, CEO of Westpac business and wealth division said in a statement. The company said its pacific business was continuing to see growth along with operational recovery post COVID, which presented Westpac an option to invest in the operations. ($1 = 1.5863 Australian dollars)Reporting by Rishav Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Additional Reporting by Ayushman Ojha; Editing by Rashmi AichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Loren Elliott, Anthony Miller, Rishav Chatterjee, Ayushman Ojha, Rashmi Organizations: Westpac, Central Business District of, REUTERS, Kina Securities, Thomson Locations: Central Business District of Sydney, Australia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Bengaluru

☆ Westpac acknowledges legal proceedings on financial hardships negligence
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Loren Elliott Acquire Licensing RightsCompanies Westpac Banking Corp FollowSept 4 (Reuters) - Australia's Westpac Banking Corp (WBC.AX) on Tuesday said it was aware of legal proceedings launched by the country's corporate regulator alleging the lender's failure to assist its customers with financial hardship notices between 2015 and 2022. The legal proceedings are linked with a "technology failure" in which the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) claimed 229 applications for financial hardship assistance logged between 2015 and 2022 were not evaluated within 21 days, Westpac said in an email response to Reuters. "This error meant we didn't provide some of our customers with the help they needed. For this, we are deeply sorry," said Westpac Group Chief Information Officer Scott Collary. Over the alleged period of breach, Westpac received about 630,000 applications for hardship assistance, the company told Reuters.

Persons: Loren Elliott, Scott Collary, Roushni Nair, Sandra Maler Organizations: Westpac, Central Business District of, REUTERS, Rights Companies Westpac Banking, Australia's Westpac Banking Corp, Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Reuters, Westpac Group, Australia's National, Thomson Locations: Central Business District of Sydney, Australia, Bengaluru

☆ Australia central bank cuts growth outlook, rates need to rise to cool red-hot inflation
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A man walking past the Reserve Bank of Australia in the central business district of Sydney on June 7, 2022. However, the silver lining, according to the bank, is medium-term inflation expectations and wages growth have remained consistent with the inflation target, and it is important that this remains the case. The central bank lifted its cash rate by 25 basis points on Tuesday to a nine-year peak of 2.85%, bringing its tightening to a steep 275 basis points since May. It also acknowledged that higher inflation is eroding real household incomes against the backdrop of a possible global recession. However, the bank reaffirmed its determination to bring inflation back to target, warning that rates will need to rise further.

☆ Australia's central bank has equity wiped out by billions in bond losses
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A man walking past the Reserve Bank of Australia in the central business district of Sydney on June 7, 2022. Australia's central bank on Friday warned inflation was heading to three-decade highs requiring further hikes in interest rates that would slow growth sharply. Australia's central bank on Wednesday said its equity had been wiped out by losses suffered on pandemic-era bond buying, but its ability to create money meant it was not insolvent and would continue as normal. The losses eclipsed underlying earnings of A$8.2 billion and left the central bank with an accounting loss of A$36.7 billion. "The negative equity position will, therefore, not affect the ability of the Reserve Bank to do its job."

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