Australian Banking & Finance articles from July 2007

Australian Banking & Finance archives from July 2007

Institutional banks differentiate to keep clients; nowhere is competition tougher than in corporate and institutional banking. That's why Australia's majors are working harder than ever to carve out a unique identity.(NEWS)
July 15, 2007... Australian Banking & Finance magazine recently brought together the institutional banking chiefs from Australia's 'big 5' at an Institutional Financial Services panel discussion sponsored by Cisco. A focus of the dialogue was the...

APEC finance ministers to be schooled on strengthening capital markets; how to deepen and strengthen capital markets will be the hot topic at the 14th APEC Finance Ministers Meeting on Queensland's Sunshine Coast in August.(NEWS)
July 15, 2007... Of the two main themes developed by APEC finance officials--deepening and strengthening capital markets and improving government balance sheets--the former will be the most important for the members of APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) at...

Oz banks rank poorly on international comparisons.(NEWS)
July 15, 2007... An international study by global management consultants Booz Allen Hamilton has revealed Australian banks under-perform many of their international peers in meeting customer needs through branch networks, call centres and online banking...

Ex-convict talks money laundering.(NEWS)
July 15, 2007... Kenneth Rijock, a reformed money launderer who has spent three years in jail, visited Australia in June to instruct Australian anti-money laundering experts on the tricks of the criminal trade and how to counter them, Rijock is believed to...

Consumers defaulting on smaller amounts of debt.(NEWS)
July 15, 2007... According to the latest default trends data from Dun & Bradstreet (D&B), smaller amounts of debt are getting more Australians into financial difficulty and at even earlier stages of their lives, potentially mining their chances to access...

Behind the Screens--back with a vengeance.
July 15, 2007... Behind the Screens, our column of news, views and personalities from the world of banking and finance, is back!!! Yes, due to popular demand and public outcry, it will appear once again from issue #11 2007 of Australian Banking & Finance...

Banks to battle over SMEs.(NEWS)
July 15, 2007... According to a recent market industry report from JPMorgan and Fujitsu Consulting, the small and medium enterprise (SME) market will be the next banking battleground for market share, margins and new entrants. As at January 2007, micro and...

ANZ to deregister from SEC.(NEWS)
July 15, 2007... After announcing its intention to withdraw the listing of its American DepositaryShares (American Depositary Receipts or ADRs) and the underlying ordinary shares from the New York Stock Exchange, ANZ Bank indicated that it intends to fully...

The rise of Melbourne--a growing financial centre: the financial services sector in Victoria enjoys impressive growth.
July 15, 2007... Melbourne's sustained growth as a financial centre is continuing, while relationships between business, government and academia are going from strength to strength. Victorian Government initiatives like Invest Victoria have been recognised...

Australian insurance--our top 50: we present our annual directory of the most dynamic people in Australian insurance. It features the industry's most prominent chief executives, financial officers, information officers, group executives and others.(SPECIAL FEATURE: TOP 50 IN INSURANCE)
July 15, 2007... LEE BARNETT Chief information officer, AMP Lee Barnett joined AMP in 1996 and was appointed chief information officer in 2002. She is responsible for leading IT as well as the sourcing and facilities management functions. ...

Panel discusses institutional banking.(EVENT-PICTORIAL)
July 15, 2007... A full house was in attendance at Australian Banking & Finance magazine's inaugural Institutional Financial Services panel discussion sponsored by Cisco. The audience witnessed a lively debate between St.George Bank's Greg Bartlett, Westpac's...

Compliance--part of enhanced customer service or an operational nightmare?
July 15, 2007... A PwC report on 'customer-centricity' released last year had some compelling statistics about the importance of staff responsiveness in retaining profitable customers. Industry executives rated this ahead of all other factors--even financial...

Sekulic: RBA should relax payments regulation.(NEWS)
July 30, 2007... MasterCard's Andre Sekulic believes the Australian payments sector should be largely unencumbered by RBA regulations. Andre Sekulic has argued that the interchange regulation introduced by the Reserve Bank in recent years has achieved very...

Reserve bank a 'reluctant' regulator.(NEWS)
July 30, 2007... The Reserve Bank of Australia says it would rather see self-regulatory solutions in the card payments industry. MasterCard, meanwhile, argues that regulation is a burden on consumers. The Reserve Bank is "a reluctant regulator and... would...

Australian fund managers fail to export.(NEWS)
July 30, 2007... The Investment and Financial Services Association (IFSA) has released Part 2 of Lateral Economics' report into the export potential of Australia's funds management industry. The report is titled 'Other people's money: Making Australia a...

Creighton joins Ajilon.(NEWS)(Ajilon Consulting appoints Alan Creighton )(Brief article)
July 30, 2007... IT and business consulting firm Ajilon has appointed Alan Creighton as consulting principal. Creighton will focus on service provision to the banking and finance sector. He previously held senior executive positions with SAS Institute...

Daley appointed MD of E*TRADE.(NEWS)
July 30, 2007... ANZ has appointed John Daley as managing director of E*TRADE Australia, following the completion of the bank's compulsory acquisition of the ETRADE Australia Limited shares it did not already own. E*TRADE Australia is now a wholly owned...

Self-regulation urged for payments sector: experts who participated in a panel discussion at the 4th International Consumer Credit Card Summit agreed that a higher degree of self-regulation would be beneficial for the Australian payments sector.(NEWS)
July 30, 2007... Commonwealth Bank executive general manager Leslie Martin, GE Money's Australia/NZ chief executive Mike Cutter, leading industry consultant William Ammentorp, and Dart Consulting strategist Mike Hartley enjoyed a lively debate at the 4th...

Finance sector responds to climate change.(NEWS)
July 30, 2007... Senior finance industry representatives have agreed that the economy-wide costs of ignoring sustainability issues such as climate change outweigh the costs of addressing it and believe further leadership is needed to encourage companies to...

'Evolution, not revolution' the key to Aussie rebranding: recently promoted managing director of Aussie, James Symond, spoke with Australian Banking & Finance magazine about his organisation's aggressive expansion goals.(PROFILE)
July 30, 2007... James Symond says that his promotion to the position of managing director is very exciting, especially considering he has been working for Aussie since its inception, starting with "no money" and seeing it turn into what he conservatively...

Funds management industry ignorant of Gen Y.(NEWS)
July 30, 2007... A recent study from KPMG International entitled 'Beyond the Baby Boomers: The Rise of Generation Y' argues that many in the funds management industry are unaware of, or simply unprepared for, generational change affecting their customer base...

The case for Asian financial integration: the 10th anniversary of the Asian currency crisis could be an opportunity for Asia to consider how acceleration in the process of Asian financial integration could create the triangle of the US, the EU and Asia as three engines of growth for the global economy in this century.(NEWS)
July 30, 2007... Financial integration in Asia will reduce the threat of global financial risk associated with global trade imbalances, reduce the risk of a slow down in the world economy, minimise the risk of domestic bubbles 'bursting' in some Asian countries...

The Asian crisis--10 years on: a respected economist has argued that the economies of Asia are now more robust than ever.(FROM THE CREDIT CARD SUMMIT)
July 30, 2007... Speaking at the 4th International Credit Card Summit, MasterCard Worldwide's economic advisor for the Asia-Pacific region, Dr Yuwa Hedrick-Wong, suggested that--in the 10 years since Asia experienced a crippling currency crisis--the countries...

Rothschild takes independent approach: Rothschild chairman of investment banking, Trevor Rowe, spoke with Australian Banking & Finance magazine recently about his organisation's distinctive business model.(CORPORATE & INSTITUTIONAL BANKING)
July 30, 2007... Trevor Rowe left Citigroup in November 2005, having been approached by Rothschild Australia Limited to take on the position of chairman in a purely non-executive capacity. However, within the first four days, investment banking head Tony...

2007 features list.(Calendar)
July 30, 2007... 2007 features list Issue Date Feature 12 July (A) Core Banking 13 July (A) New Technologies In Financial Services 14 August (A) QLD Financial Markets ...

M&A market doubles in value.(CORPORATE & INSTITUTIONAL BANKING)(Mergers and Acquisitions market)(Statistical data)
July 30, 2007... More than twice as much money has been spent on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the Australian market in the financial year 2006-07 than in the previous year. The value of deals has grown from around A$47 billion in 2005/06 to A$115...

Macquarie expects strong demand for CPPs.(CORPORATE & INSTITUTIONAL BANKING)(capital protected products)(Macquarie Investment Management)(Brief article)
July 30, 2007... Macquarie Investment Lending is expecting a significant number of applications for capital protected lending products as a result of the new capital protected borrowings (CPBs) rules, which were enacted last April and came into force on 1 July...

Goldman Sachs JBWere appoints MD equity derivatives.(CORPORATE & INSTITUTIONAL BANKING)
July 30, 2007... Goldman Sachs JBWere has appointed Rob Price to its securities team as managing director and head of equities. In his new role with the firm, Price will be based in Sydney and will be responsible for shaping the strategic direction of the...

Praemium/Blackrock SMA platform reaches A$200 million in funds managed.(CORPORATE & INSTITUTIONAL BANKING)
July 30, 2007... The value of total funds managed utilising Praemium Limited's separately managed account (SMA) platform has climbed to A$200 million, due to buoyant end of financial year activity among financial advisers and their clients. Praemium...

Business banking battlearound: competition ramps up as banks turn their focus to the customer.(FEATURE: BUSINESS BANKING)(Company overview)
July 30, 2007... The business banking sector as a whole has become a lot more competitive with increased focus and investment, according to Greg Bartlett, St George institutional and business banking managing director. Bartlett says the strengths of the...

Mortgage broking in its prime: mortgage brokers set their sights on other avenues of revenue in order to retain clients.(FEATURE: MORTGAGE BROKING)
July 30, 2007... According to Phil Naylor, chief executive of the Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia (MFAA), once membership levels hit 12,500 last year--and after renaming and broadening of the association's charter--growth rates slowed down. ...

Majors losing share of trade finance business: international banks and smaller domestic banks are beginning to eat into the trade finance business of the 'big four'.(TRADE FINANCING REPORT)
July 30, 2007... There is a considerable focus on international trade at the moment, with recent figures showing that Australia's exports are growing and our overall trade deficit is narrowing. APEC trade ministers also met in Cairns at the beginning of July to...

Bankers and Credit Card get-together: Australia's leading payments industry professionals attended the 4th International Credit Card Summit in Sydney. The event was hosted by Australian Banking & Finance magazine and was sponsored by MasterCard.(FROM THE CREDIT CARD SUMMIT)
July 30, 2007... Dr Yuwa Hedrick-Wong, Regional Economist & Strategist. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Professor Les McCrimmon, Australian Law Reform Commission. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] William Ammentorp, Leading industry consultant. [ILLUSTRATION...

On the record.(NEWS)(Correction notice)
July 30, 2007... "We'll find a way to make money. It may not be in cards. It may be by building out from the cards and payments capability to offer new services. But I do not think we're going to say 'This is too hard', put our dresses over our heads and run...

At our recent MasterCard consumer credit card Summit 2007, guest speaker Peter Holmes & Court gave himself a less congratulatory introduction than Master of Ceremonies Ross Greenwood.(BEHIND THE SCREENS)
July 30, 2007... AT OUR RECENT MASTERCARD CONSUMER CREDIT CARD Summit 2007, guest speaker Peter Holmes & Court gave himself a less congratulatory introduction than Master of Ceremonies Ross Greenwood. He revealed that his personal history included being...

At the same event, MasterCard's Andre Sekulic spoke of how, during his childhood, his parents owned a delicatessen shop in the western Sydney suburb of Blacktown.(BEHIND THE SCREENS)
July 30, 2007... AT THE SAME EVENT, MASTERCARD'S ANDRE SEKULIC spoke of how, during his childhood, his parents owned a delicatessen shop in the western Sydney suburb of Blacktown. This store even supplied products to another, nearby delicatessen owned by future...

The commonwealth bank's appointment of Ross Mcewen in May--to head retail banking operations--brought to six the number of Kiwis recruited to senior management or board level since New Zealander Ralph Norris took over as chief executive less than two years ago.(BEHIND THE SCREENS)
July 30, 2007... THE COMMONWEALTH BANK'S APPOINTMENT OF ROSS McEwen in May--to head retail banking operations--brought to six the number of Kiwis recruited to senior management or board level since New Zealander Ralph Norris took over as chief executive less...

When Telstra announced plans last month to launch a mobile phone payment service, we wondered which financial institution and which payments company it would include in any development joint venture.(BEHIND THE SCREENS)
July 30, 2007... WHEN TELSTRA ANNOUNCED PLANS LAST MONTH TO launch a mobile phone payment service, we wondered which financial institution and which payments company it would include in any development joint venture. Mobile payments is not something a telco can...