Today
Lenders creating ‘unnecessary barriers’ for struggling customers: ASIC
With living costs high, ASIC chairman Joe Longo has issued a stern report on bank hardship policies. ABA chief Anna Bligh says processes are being improved.
- 31 mins ago
- James Eyers
This Month
Traders finger ‘pre-hedging’ in ANZ bond probe
Fixed income traders say pre-hedging is “a grey area” riddled with inherent conflicts of interest. ASIC has already targeted Westpac over the practice in swap markets.
- James Eyers and Cecile Lefort
Regal allegedly embroiled in South Korean securities investigation
The prominent hedge fund told investors in September it was shorting stocks in South Korea, saying it was focused on “one specific bank”.
- Joshua Peach
Imported tradies need to live somewhere too
To fix the housing shortage the government needs to train many more building industry workers at home as well as fast-tracking visas for foreign tradies, builders say.
- Michael Bleby
ANZ confirms investigation of its government bond sale
ANZ said is “co-operating fully” with ASIC as it investigates “suspected contraventions” of the Corporations Act relating to a government bond sale last year.
- James Eyers
- Exclusive
- ANZ Bank
ASIC investigates ANZ over Treasury trades
The corporate regulator acted after receiving a complaint from the Australian Office of Financial Management, which raises government debt, sources said.
- Aaron Patrick
Westpac CEO wants super on a level playing field
The bank boss said comments by Apollo Capital Management should force an urgent rethink on regulatory rules for super funds.
- James Eyers
- Exclusive
- Property development
Red tape puts Labor’s $10b HAFF housing plan at risk
The federal government, set to fall 300,000 homes short of its 1.2 million target, faces another hurdle over workplace health and safety certification.
- Michael Bleby
Buy now, pay later surges as Dorsey realises Cash App vision
Block’s BNPL volumes are rising as Afterpay is rolled into Cash App, which has 24 million active users in the US. The stock jumped more than 10pc on Friday.
- James Eyers
April
Ex-SFE boss warns ASX a threat to financial stability
Former SFE boss Les Hosking says ASX is a ‘single point of failure risk’ threatening financial stability. Joe Longo says he’s ready to act.
- James Eyers
ASIC chairman ‘very disturbed’ about CBA’s bonus move
Joe Longo said he had raised concerns about CBA’s breach of bonus caps directly with the bank’s chairman Paul O’Malley and urged the bank to reconsider.
- James Eyers and Lucas Baird
Big super splits on performance test reforms
Labor announced it was reviewing the test after several funds said the current rules stopped them investing in the “nation building” initiatives the government wanted them to bankroll.
- Hannah Wootton
Start-ups, dentists drain retirement savings in ‘super scam’
The value of super withdrawn for dental treatments nationally jumped 373 per cent to $313 million from 2019 to 2023, and Labor has warned of a potential crackdown.
- Hannah Wootton
Inquiry puts blame on regulator, RBA for ASX failure
ASIC and the Reserve Bank should conduct more thorough audits to avoid a repeat of the bungled CHESS replacement project.
- James Eyers
Companies at risk of ‘state-sponsored greenwashing’, Senate told
The ACCC has not yet signed off on the government’s Climate Active carbon neutrality certification even though more than 500 companies already use it.
- Hannah Wootton
Suncorp discovers stress-test flaws, files regulatory breach
The insurance-banking conglomerate says it is dealing with APRA about the problem but no penalty will be applied.
- Liam Walsh
- Opinion
- Opinion
Regional banks dying a slow death
The country’s smaller banks have a bleak future due to higher cost of funds, excessive capital requirements, costly technology upgrades and lack of scale. But will regulators do anything about it?
- Tony Boyd
Merger shake-up threatens to ‘kill off the start-up sector’
Tech leaders have warned that proposed merger laws will kill deals before they close, starving the sector of the capital it needs to continue to grow.
- Tess Bennett and Paul Smith
The three big changes to merger laws and why they matter
In Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ landmark merger law proposal there are two key changes that will shift how deals are done, and one crucial area he did not touch.
- Hannah Wootton
Strata reforms send bills soaring from just $5000 to $60,000
The NSW government made sweeping changes to prevent horrific development failures. Did it go too far?
- Deborah Cassrels