Westpac cops $235m hit from advice failures
Westpac cops $235m hit from advice failures
The cost to Westpac Banking Corp from the industry-wide ‘‘fee-for-noservice’’ scandal has surged, with the bank saying its full-year earnings will be sliced by $235 million due to additional payouts to customers overcharged for financial advice, including ‘‘where advice services were not provided’. The Fin
Rates gulf between Fed and RBA widens
The US Federal Reserve’s decision to lift interest rates for the third time in 2018 puts US rates 0.75 percentage points higher than those in Australia – the widest gap since the RBA began targeting inflation in the early 1990s. The Fin
NDIS racks up $600m on consultants, outsourced staff
The agency running the National Disability Insurance Scheme has spent more than half a billion dollars in one financial year on consultants, contractors and outsourced staff, blowing its own projections by $130 million, new documents reveal. The Aus
ASX query on Pancontinental chief’s share trade
The stock exchange has queried a $523,000 share sale by Pancontinental Oil & Gas’ chief executive during a restricted trading period and about two days before the junior explorer first learnt of poor drilling results. The West
Bankwest joins lenders hiking home loan rates
Bankwest, which is owned by CBA, the nation’s largest lender, is the latest to raise standard variable rates for principal and interest and interest-only home buyers. The Fin
Breaker seeking $10.5m
Greenfields explorer Breaker Resources is understood to be shaking the tin for up to $10.5 million for further exploration and studies on its prospective Lake Roe project 100km east of Kalgoorlie. The West
Family Court leadership choice a ‘slap in the face’
The former Labor attorney-general Robert McClelland won a surprise elevation as deputy Chief Justice of the Family Court when the government announced its new leadership team for the court on Thursday. The Fin
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: Westpac hauled each of its 40,000 bankers into urgent briefings by chief executive Brian Hartzer this week, who warned them to bring forward customer problems, as the bank tries to get on the front foot ahead of today’s royal commission interim report.
Australia’s richest tech entrepreneurs are now next-door neighbours and owners of the country’s two most expensive houses, after a record breaking sale by the family of the once-dominant traditional media empire Fairfax for almost $100 million.
The US Federal Reserve’s decision to lift interest rates for the third time in 2018 puts US rates 0.75 percentage points higher than those in Australia – the widest gap since the RBA began targeting inflation in the early 1990s.
Remaining members of the ABC board are under pressure to resign for backing ex-chairman Justin Milne for almost a week after being told by managing director Michelle Guthrie that he wanted journalists fired to appease the Coalition government.
Page 3: The former Labor attorney-general Robert McClelland won a surprise elevation as deputy Chief Justice of the Family Court when the government announced its new leadership team for the court on Thursday.
Page 5: Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull strongly denied ever demanding the ABC board sack journalists Emma Alberici and Andrew Probyn, saying his primary complaint was with the broadcaster’s accuracy and impartiality, which he said has ‘‘deteriorated’’ in recent years.
Page 9: Coffee is trading below $US1 a pound (45¢ a kilo) for the first time in more than 12 years but according to experts, the price fall is unlikely to be reflected at the local cafe.
Page 15: The cost to Westpac Banking Corp from the industry-wide ‘‘fee-for-noservice’’ scandal has surged, with the bank saying its full-year earnings will be sliced by $235 million due to additional payouts to customers overcharged for financial advice, including ‘‘where advice services were not provided’’.
Page 18: Cloud-based accounting company Xero has backed itself to continue growing strongly, raising $US300 million ($413 million) in five-year convertible notes with an exercise price 70 per cent above its share price on Thursday.
Bankwest, which is owned by CBA, the nation’s largest lender, is the latest to raise standard variable rates for principal and interest and interest-only home buyers.
Page 19: National Australia Bank has exited China’s shadow banking sector with the $240 million sale of its remaining stake in one of the country’s biggest trusts.
National Australia Bank’s latest round of job culling is said to have claimed as many as 50 positions across its private bank, as the lender transitions to a new operating model for wealthy customers.
Page 25: Contractor WestStar Industrial said its SIMPEC business had been awarded $1.8 million of extra works at the Talison lithium mine in Western Australia.
Page 31: Australia has outperformed legal markets across the globe with ‘‘staggering growth’’ of almost 8 per cent over the past 12 months and the best set of numbers in five years.
The Australian
Page 1: The agency running the National Disability Insurance Scheme has spent more than half a billion dollars in one financial year on consultants, contractors and outsourced staff, blowing its own projections by $130 million, new documents reveal.
Public hospital patients are paying $1.4 billion in private gap fees every year as the states continue to rely on insurers to prop up their budgets, according to new figures from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Page 5: Australia has been called to immediately commit a further $400 million to replenish the Green Climate Fund to help developing countries cope with the impacts of climate change.
Page 7: ABC director Peter Lewis was the “financial director” of a failed training group that is at the centre of a potential criminal investigation into the fate of hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer money, documents show.
Page 17: A horde of Australia’s biggest financial institutions and superannuation funds have been forced by the prudential regulator to ram through an in-depth review of their culture and governance before the royal commission ends next year.
ExxonMobil and BHP have agreed to study whether they can push more high-carbon Bass Strait natural gas through their $1 billion carbon-stripping plant at Longford, under a new five-year retention lease that allows them to delay development of the South East Remora gas field.
Page 22: Health insurance giant Medibank covered about $5.5 million worth of mental health care in the first three months of a federal government initiative aimed at increasing access to help for sufferers of mental health problems.
The West Australian
Page 3: Almost $2 million in unclaimed prize money has gone begging from punters who have had a win on the tables at Crown Perth, according to the State’s gambling watchdog.
Page 24: The Defence Department has launched a $3 billion tender process to upgrade the capability of Australia’s special forces units with a fleet of light attack helicopters designed for urban combat and antiterrorism operations.
Business: HBF has revealed plans to sell and lease back its 10-storey 570 Wellington Street headquarters, with property sources speculating the tower could fetch about $110 million.
The first live sheep shipment in more than three months left WA at the weekend, but the company behind the journey said it was far from a resumption of the trade, and low stock numbers on the voyage cost the local economy about $7 million.
WA’s mining and petroleum sectors have clocked their second-highest sales revenue on record.
Investors intrigued by recent high-profile gold discoveries will next week have the chance to eyeball the executives leading Australia’s bullion industry when the Precious Metals Investment Symposium opens its doors.
The giant nuggets found at the Beta Hunt gold mine near Kambalda will be on display next week at the Pan Pacific hotel, as PCF Capital prepares to auction five of the gold specimens.
The stock exchange has queried a $523,000 share sale by Pancontinental Oil & Gas’ chief executive during a restricted trading period and about two days before the junior explorer first learnt of poor drilling results.
Greenfields explorer Breaker Resources is understood to be shaking the tin for up to $10.5 million for further exploration and studies on its prospective Lake Roe project 100km east of Kalgoorlie.
