Australian Banking & Finance articles from February 2004

Australian Banking & Finance archives from February 2004

National Australia Bank 'in safe hands'.(within six months John Stewart made the difference)
February 16, 2004... JOHN STEWART, THE NEW CHIEF executive of National Australia Bank, joined the country's largest lender only six months ago. His three predecessors, including Frank Cicutto, who this month resigned to take responsibility for currency trading...

Regionals to counter housing DIP.(finance news of Adelaide bank)
February 16, 2004... ADELAIDE BANK CHIEF EXECUTIVE Barry Fitzpatrick believes the market is overestimating the impact of a stowing housing market on regional bank profitability. He says all indications were that interest rates with continue to rise in small...

Macquarie Bank on track for record.(Current Account)(Brief Article)
February 16, 2004... MACQUARIE BANK CEO ALLAN Moss has indicated the bank is on track to achieve an "exceptional profit" for the full year to March 31. Moss said the bank has continued to benefit from favourable market conditions and its second-half profit for...

Credit Society counters direct ATM charging.(Current Account)(Brief Article)
February 16, 2004... WESTERN AUSTRALIAN BANKING alternative Police & Nurses Credit Society has begun the rollout of an expanded retail network with a new dedicated ATM system designed to protect its customers from the introduction of 'direct charging' for ATM use....

ANZ Bank appoints Greg Clark to board.(Current Account)(Brief Article)
February 16, 2004... GREGORY CLARK HAS JOINED THE board of ANZ Bank. He is principal of Clark Capital Partners, a firm based in the US that advises internationally on technology and the technology market place. He is also a director of James Hardie...

Banking world.(Current Account)(caption)
February 16, 2004... Foreign exchange brokerage workers dress up in traditional Japanese kimonos during the first trading day of the new year in Tokyo. Photographer: Haruyoshi Yamaguchi/Bloomberg News [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

On the record.(Current Account)(official quotes)(Brief Article)
February 16, 2004... "I think we'll find there has been fraud and we'll find there has been incompetence--people have been asleep on their watch." NEWLY-APPOINTED NAB CHIEF JOHN STEWART ON THE FOREIGN EXCHANGE SCANDAL. "He's a first-class retail banker, a...

Relief for SPVs.(denovan's law)(special purpose vehicles)(Brief Article)
February 16, 2004... ON DECEMBER 22 THE ASIC issued class order 03-1098 to grant temporary relief from the requirement to hold an AFSL for securitisation special purpose vehicles and program managers. Prior to the issue of the class order, it was likely that...

Aust Post develops bill system for AGL.(Current Account)(Australian Gas Light Company)
February 16, 2004... AUSTRALIA POST HAS BUILT ITS first "biller branded' internet bill payment system for the Australian Gas Light Company (AGL). AGL customers in Victoria, NSW and South Australia now have the choice of paying their bills on line directly from...

Hedge funds attract growing share of capital.(News)
February 16, 2004... ON AUGUST 21 1998 WHEN LONG Term Global Capital collapsed, it did not only take $4 billion worth of shareholder's money, but also investor confidence in the hedge fund industry. At its height, LTCM's derivative positions amounted to $US1.25...

Westpac to bury Bank Melb, challenge brands.(News)(Westpac Banking Corp.)
February 16, 2004... WESTPAC IS MOVING TO A SINGLE national, brand throughout Australia. Mike Pratt, Westpac group executive for business and consumer banking, said this would mean a name change for Bank of Melbourne and Challenge Bank. "Westpac has a...

2004 awards move closer.(News)(Australian Banking & Finance Awards)(Brief Article)
February 16, 2004... THE 14TH ANNUAL 2004 AUSTRALIAN Banking & Finance Awards are moving ahead with our judging panel. preparing the list of nominations in the 13 voting categories. A voting coupon will appear in the next issue of Australian Banking & Finance...

Credit derivatives back in focus: the failure of Parmalat has again put a focus on the management of credit risk and particularly, the use of credit derivatives.(News)
February 16, 2004... ENCOURAGINGLY FOR THE DEVELopment of the credit derivatives market, upon Parmalat's filing for bankruptcy, there were setters of credit protection triggering contracts as well as buyers, and the settlement process appears to operating...

US access welcomed.(News)(Brief Article)
February 16, 2004... THE PROSPECT OF MORE OPEN access to the US financial markets for Australian financial institutions has been welcomed by the International Banks and Securities Association (IBSA), which represents Australian and foreign investment banks and...

ADIs face tougher loan standards: authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs) could lose concessional risk weighting of home mortgage lending for capital adequacy purposes unless their documentation meets new, and tougher, standards, under a new proposal by APRA.(News)(Australian Prudential Regulation Authority)
February 16, 2004... IF CHANGES PUT FORWARD BY APRA are adopted, ADIs such as banks, building societies and credit unions could lose the concessional risk weighting of home mortgage lending for capital adequacy purposes, unless their documentation meets new, and...

IAG hits Tasmania.(Australian Insurer)(IAG Ltd. opens NRMA Insurance offices)(Brief Article)
February 16, 2004... IAG IS ENTERING THE TASMANIAN market under the NRMA Insurance brand, offering a range of home and motor insurance products. CEO Mike Hawker said: "This is exciting news for the group and our people in Tasmania, as it will create...

Reinsurance out of tech loop.(Australian Insurer)
February 16, 2004... INSURANCE TECHNOLOGY investments too often bypass reinsurance departments, leaving them technologically challenged, hurting financial results and even putting surplus at risk. Research house Celent Communications estimates that new...

NZ insurers back to basics.(Australian Insurer)(New Zealand)(Brief Article)
February 16, 2004... THE NON-LIFE AND LIFE INSURANCE INDUSTRIES IN New Zealand face contrasting futures. White non-life insurers will maintain credit quality strength, life insurers are going back to fundamentals to revive their fortunes, according to a...

Insurance sector experiences best underwriting era.(Australian Insurer)(survey reports)
February 16, 2004... THE AUSTRALIAN GENERAL insurance industry is experiencing one of the best underwriting periods in its history, according to the JPMorgan/Deloitte 2003 General Insurance Industry Survey. "We believe it's the first time in Australia's...

Macquarie eyes Asian expansion.(News)
February 16, 2004... MACQUARIE BANK LTD IS IN talks with ING Groep NV executives in Hong Kong as Australia's only publicly traded investment bank plans to expand by buying the Asian equities operations of the biggest Dutch financial services firm. Macquarie is...

Faces of banking and finance 2004.(News)(Saul Eslake, chief economist of ANZ banking group)(Brief Article)
February 16, 2004... SAUL ESLAKE HAS BEEN CHIEF economist of the Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) since August 1995. Prior to joining ANZ, he was chief economist (international) at National Mutual Funds Management (now part of the Axa Insurance...

Pepper launches mortgage for business and investors.(News)(Equity Direct, specially for business people and investors )
February 16, 2004... PEPPER HOMELOANS HAS LAUNCHED a new mortgage called Equity Direct that specifically caters for business people and investors seeking rapid and easy access to funds. According to Pepper, Equity Direct allows people to unlock the power of a...

Capital raisings more efficient: proposed amendments to capital raising for the Australian Stock Exchange are set to allow the Australian market to finally operate in a more efficient manner equal to leading world markets.(News)(Brief Article)
February 16, 2004... ACCORDING T0 JESSICA TAYLOR, a senior taxation and business adviser at Hall Chadwick, the amendments will give companies speedier access to capital, allowing them to act quickly when presented with business opportunities. "Currently there...

Debit card phenomenon.(News)
February 16, 2004... DEBIT CARDS CONTINUE TO GROW in popularity in Australia and overseas. A new nationwide consumer payment preferences study conducted by the American Bankers Association and Boston-based Dove Consulting found that between 1999 and 2003, the...

Andy Penn has been effectively told he's the man to replace Les Owen as CEO at AXA Asia Pacific at the end of 2006.(News)(Brief Article)
February 16, 2004... ANDY PENN HAS BEEN EFFECtively told he's the man to replace Les Owen as CEO at AXA Asia Pacific at the end of 2006. AXA extended the contract of Owen to the end of 2006 and elevated CFO Penn to head the Australia and New Zealand Operations....

2004 features list.(News)(Illustration)
February 16, 2004... 2004 FEATURES LIST Issue Cover Date Booking Deadline Material Deadline 1 30 January^ 19 January 20 January 2 13 February 3 February 4 February 3 27 February 17 February...

ANZ lauds its service.(News)(Customer Charter Annual Report, 2003 highlights)
February 16, 2004... ANZ HAS RELEASED ITS 2003 Customer Charter Annual Report, providing a detailed review of its performance against the 10 service promises made to its customers. ANZ CEO John McFarlane said: "We set out on a five-year program in 2001 to...

Service protects against phishing: financial institutions are being offered a new fraud protection to combat online identity fraud through a new type of email scam known as phishing.(Special Report--Security & Fraud Prevention)
February 16, 2004... MESSAGELABS IS INTRODUCING the service in Asia Pacific after selectively providing it to major banks in Australia, the US, and the UK and proving its effectiveness, value and reliability. The service features real-time scanning, expert...

Biometrics the answer.(Special Report--Security & Fraud Prevention)
February 16, 2004... IF THE SPATE OF EMAIL SCAMS against banking customers in Late 2003 is anything to go by, financial fraud is set to provide an ever-increasing headache for banking and financial services institutions. In what became a weekly event in the...

Staying in touch with customers generates profit.(Special Report--Telecommunications)
February 16, 2004... THE TRADING FLOOR MUST BE running smoothly art day, every day. Put simply, downtime is directly correlated to Lest revenue. It is supported by probably the most complex web of systems and communications links that exists within any...

Optus supports EFTPOS needs of the major banks.(Special report--Telecommunications)(Transaction Network Services )
February 16, 2004... OPTUS HAS ENTERED INTO A five-year strategic alliance with Transaction Network Services (TNS) to develop the next generation of EFTPOS network services. The alliance will see the two companies working together on a joint service offering...

Threats to telco functions.(Special report--Telecommunictions)
February 16, 2004... A US WORKING GROUP OF BANKing experts is recommending that the private sector find ways to develop 'secure and resilient' telecommunications essential for critical banking functions. The group, known as the Working Group on Government...

Behind the screens.(News)
February 16, 2004... If first impressions mean anything, then the newly-appointed CEO of National Australia Group John Stewart is the real deal and just the figure needed to restore confidence in the group, both locally and offshore. Stewart's interviews with the...

Customise to survive.(News)
February 16, 2004... THE WAY A COMPANY responds to demands for customised products or services can make the difference between performance that leads a sector and performance that lags that of industry peers. Companies that create value by customising white...

Capital gains.(News)
February 16, 2004... I'm sorry, once your account drops below a certain amount, you get me." [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Bendiqo the king of cost control.
February 29, 2004... ONE OF THE MOST STRIKING features of Bendigo Bank's growth strategy in recent years is that it has been able to increase income at a "significantly faster" rate than expenses. Managing director Rob Hunt says that white the bank, rated No 1...

Customers will pay for security.(Brief Article)
February 29, 2004... ONE IN FIVE CONSUMERS ARE willing to pay a fee for added online banking security, research has found. The survey by Infochoice and industry publication Online Banking Review (OBR) has found 21% of consumers would be happy to pay a fee to...

Good start for 'Which New Bank'.(Brief Article)
February 29, 2004... THE $1.5 BILLION TRANSFORMAtion program so critical to the future of the Commonwealth Bank--and indeed its chief executive David Murray--is off to a promising start. Murray (pictured above) said this month that in the 10% of branches new...

Awards shortlist finalised.(Brief Article)
February 29, 2004... THE 14TH ANNUAL 2004 Australian Banking & Finance Awards are up and running with an impressive List of nominations shortlisted. Readers are now invited to cast their votes by fitting in the coupon on Page 5. The voting coupon will...

Virgin questions card marketing.(Current Account)(Brief Article)
February 29, 2004... TWO IN THREE AUSTRALIANS 166%) overspent last Christmas and one in three (35%) splurged so heavily they are now struggling to pay regular household expenses, according Virgin Money. Virgin Money's national Christmas Debt Survey, undertaken...

Banking world.(Current Account)
February 29, 2004... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: Jamie Dimon, left, chairman and chief executive of Bank One Corp, and Sandford Weill, chairman of Citigroup Inc. Five years after Weill fired Dimon he is set to return as head of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co, the...

CommSec introduces stop-loss feature.(Current Account)(Brief Article)
February 29, 2004... COMMSEC MARGIN LOANS HAS introduced Stop Loss for its margin lending clients, making it the first margin tender to offer an automated stop-loss feature to investors. Stop Loss allows investors to automatically trigger a sell order for a...

E-Funds adds to payment portfolio.(Current Account)(eFunds Corp.acquired the intellectual property of Webpay)(Brief Article)
February 29, 2004... eFUNDS CORP, A PROVIDER OF electronic payments, risk management, ATM and global, outsourcing solutions, has acquired the intellectual property of Webpay, a privately-owned Australian payment software company. Under the terms of the...

On the record.(Current Account)
February 29, 2004... "It won't make pretty reading." NEWLY-INSTALLED CHAIRMAN OF NAB GRAHAM KRAEHE ON THE PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPER5 REPORT INTO THE CURRENCY OPTIONS SCANDAL. "The NAB board is so far from being world class that to get to that level without a...

Literacy taskforce welcomed.(Current Account)(Brief Article)
February 29, 2004... THE AUSTRALIAN BANKERS' Association (ABA) has welcomed the announcement by the Federal Government that it will create a taskforce to develop Australia's first consumer end financial literacy strategy. The banking industry will be...

Citigroup's new CEO.(Current Account)(Ahmed Fahour)(Brief Article)
February 29, 2004... AHMED FAHOUR HAS BEEN NAMED CEO OF Citigroup Australasia with responsibility for all Citigroup's businesses in Australia and New Zealand including Citigroup Corporate and Investment Banking, Citibank Consumer Bank, Citigroup Investment...

How to satisfy your wealthiest customers.(News)
February 29, 2004... KEEPING HIGH NET WORTH customers satisfied is one of the key goals of many banks--to retain this group as customers, to offer them a wider range of services and ensure they become above average profit generators for the bank. Overseas,...

Kraehe committed to change.(News)(Brief Article)
February 29, 2004... NEW NAB CHAIRMAN GRAHAM Kraehe says he's committed to rejuvenating the board by adding direct banking experience. He concedes shareholders are "rightly disappointed that the bank has underperformed relative to its peers in the past few...

Chair has runs on the board.(News; profile of retired Southcorp Holdings Ltd. CEO Graham Kraehe)(Brief Article)
February 29, 2004... GRAHAM KRAEHE HAS EXTENsive business experience. Over a 30 year period, he was the CEO of four companies in the wine, automotive and diversified industrial sectors. Since retiring from chief executive responsibilities, Kraehe has been...

Home lending holds up.(News)(Brief Article)
February 29, 2004... BANK OF QUEENSLAND MANAGing director David Liddy says expansion of the branch network and the increased focus on business banking were continuing to drive lending volumes. "We have continued to experience strong asset growth despite the...

Sarbanes-Oxley puts governance on agenda.(News)
February 29, 2004... CORPORATE GOVERNANCE HAS become a top agenda item for financial institutions around the world following the painful lessons of Enron, Global Crossing and WorldCom which are stilt impacting world markets, as well as our own large-scale debacles...

Mortgage processing service to reduce costs.(News)(legalstream)(Brief Article)
February 29, 2004... MORTGAGE PROCESSING GROUP LegalStream is out to capture a major share of the rapidly growing mortgage settlement market. LegalStream, which evolved from Burkhart & Company, is offering a unique start to-finish mortgage processing service...

Faces of banking and finance 2004.(News)(Visa International. apponits Bruce Mansfield as a general manager)(Brief Article)
February 29, 2004... BRUCE MANSFIELD THIS month took up the position of general manager for Australia and New Zealand of Visa International. He was previously Visa's general manager, emerging products and technologies, based in Singapore. Mansfield is one...

CBA launches IT system to underpin new program.(News)(commonwealth bank of australia)
February 29, 2004... THE COMMONWEALTH BANK this month officially Launched the deployment of it's new customer service IT system, called CommSee, ahead of its nationwide rollout over the next two to three years. Group executive, premium financial services, Mike...

QBE doubles profit as markets surge.(Australian Insurer; QBE Insurance Group Ltd.)(Brief Article)
February 29, 2004... QBE DOUBLED PROFIT FROM $279 million to $572 million in the year to December 31. The increase came from higher insurance profit margins and improved equity markets, partly offset by an increase in the tax charge, Pre-tax profit was up...

Axa meets performance goals.(Australian Insurer)
February 29, 2004... AXA ASIA PACIFIC HOLDINGS Ltd's second-half profit jumped by more than a third after higher stock markets, particularly in Hong Kong, boosted investment earnings. Net income rose to $271 million in the six months to December 31, from $196...

IAG boosted by acquisitions.(Australian Insurer; Insurance Australia Group Ltd.)
February 29, 2004... INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP hoisted profit from $62 million to $302 million for the six months to December 31, reflecting the increased scale of the business following the acquisition of CGU and NZI and the considerable improvement in equity...

Promina exceeds all expectations.(Australian Insurer; Promina Group)(Brief Article)
February 29, 2004... PROMINA GROUP HAS REPORTED a maiden full-year profit of $272 million. Standard and Poor's said the result was significantly higher than the prospectus forecast at the time of the initial public offering, and is consistent with its 'A'...

CBA grows insurance.(Australian Insurer)(commonwealth bank of australia)(Brief Article)
February 29, 2004... THE COMMONWEALTH BANK'S impressive first half performance included a solid improvement from its insurance activities. The underlying net profit after tax in the insurance business of $67 million reflected a $54 million increase on the prior...

Major issues confronting bankers.(News)
February 29, 2004... Banks and other financial services firms have been the leaders in outsourcing services. But while they promise cost savings, they hold an equal amount of risk. In addition, Basel II, M&A, and credit risk issues face banks in 2004. KPMG's...

Legislation seeks to uncover PEPs.(News)(politically-exposed persons)
February 29, 2004... THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT will introduce a draft bill in April which will require financial institutions, in line with international guidelines, to identify foreign customers who are so-called 'politically-exposed persons' (PEPs) worldwide. ...

Technology investment to break income fall.(News)
February 29, 2004... WHILE THE BANKING INDUSTRY at large has prospered since the millennium thanks to its continuing strong retail performance, wholesale business lines have remained mired in weak loan demand, deteriorating credit quality, large loan write-offs and...

Extending the reach: financial services is a constantly evolving industry.(Special Feature--CRM)
February 29, 2004... THE ABILITY TO RESPOND TO changing market conditions is crucial, yet can pose many challenges due to complex organisational structures, fragmented distribution channels, and disparate technology systems. The impact of this is that customer...

Customer service: the silver bullet for CRM success.(Special Feature--CRM)(customer relationship management)
February 29, 2004... IN POPULAR CULTURE, BY NOW we're all familiar with Australian Idol. We're also all familiar with Big Brother, The Block and Survivor. And probably pretty over them too. In business, we've all heard of CRM. We've also read about CRM and...

The great IT industry cover-up: Doug Farber, VP at Salesforce.com explains the discrepancy between ROI and real costs.(Special Feature--CRM)
February 29, 2004... IT'S THE UNWRITTEN CODE. THE unspoken agreement. The big cover up of the IT industry. When we sign up to a project, we agree a price and a deadline, and work out Return on Investment (RoI) based on this data. But we all know, really, that...

Managing for customer profitability.(Special Feature-CRM)
February 29, 2004... FIERCE COMPETITION IN THE financial services sector for customer share is not a new concept. Today, customers have more visibility and access to information and services, and their switching costs from one provider to another is...

Behind the screens.(News)(Illustration)
February 29, 2004... BANKING & FINANCE 2004 FEATURES LIST Issue Cover Date Booking Material Deadline Deadline 1 30 January^ 19 January 20 January 2 13 February 3 February ...

Behind the screens.(News)
February 29, 2004... This magazine's annual Awards are up and running again and the panel which decides the shortlist of nominations will, for the first time since their inception 14 years ago, not contain former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank, John Phillips...

Capital gains.(News)
February 29, 2004... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: "And please let Allan Greenspan accept the things he cannot change, give him the courage to change the things he can and the wisdom to know the difference."

Comparing the working habits of CEOs in banking.(News)
February 29, 2004... HOW DO THE WORKING HABITS of Australian banking and finance CEOs compare with their center-parts in the US? Well, the American Bankers Association has just painted a portrait of CEOs running the nation's community banks which makes...