Australian Banking & Finance articles from September 2005

Australian Banking & Finance archives from September 2005

Coomer warns on electronic security; calls for banks to combine on information security quickly.
September 15, 2005... Westpac's Michael Coomer warned the banking industry that prevention of 'phishing', hacking and fraudulent access to customer's data was the biggest technological challenge to the industry. The wave of 'phishing', just one of the illegal...

Funds management hub in the Asia-Pacific region; Australia's Pension Fund market--largest in region by 2015.
September 15, 2005... New international research published by Allianz Global Investors (AGI) predicts the huge potential of the Asian Pacific pension markets over the next ten years, with Australia's pension market, one of the largest in the world, to account for 60...

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.(NEWS)
September 15, 2005... The public around the world is beginning to understand that there is no point in sending millions of dollars of aid to Africa if the politicians of these countries just pocket the money. As Moelestsi Mbeki, the brother of the South African...

Automation: solving the top 5 IT pains.(NEWS)
September 15, 2005... Everyday companies feel the pressures of rapidly increasing changes in the business climate. The pace is faster. Competition is fiercer. Customers are more demanding. Today, businesses face a myriad of challenges--challenges that automation can...

ATM network acquisition.(NEWS)
September 15, 2005... CUSTOMERS LIMITED ANNOUNCED RECENTLY THAT IT HAD SIGNED A DEFINITIVE AGREEMENT TO acquire a national network of more than 200 automatic teller machines. Announcing the acquisition the managing director of Customers Greg Baker, said "This...

Compliance is key to managing IT risk; in most financial organisations today, business processes are so completely entwined with IT that the success or failure of the business is heavily dependent on its use of information systems.(SPECIAL FEATURE: TECHNOLOGY AND RISK MANAGEMENT)
September 15, 2005... In fact, Yankee Group says that 90 per cent of all mission-critical business processes are IT-enabled. While compliance is key to managing risk, achieving sustainable compliance depends on properly governed IT. As finance industry...

Managers should be making operational risk a strategic imperative: investment managers need to ensure they have equipped themselves with operational risk management systems that can cope with increased regulatory focus to sustain the growth they have enjoyed, according to the annual PricewaterhouseCoopers Investment Management Survey 2005.(SPECIAL FEATURE: TECHNOLOGY AND RISK MANAGEMENT)
September 15, 2005... The survey features views of 31 investment management organisations with assets totalling more than $600 billion. They identify breaches of Financial Services Reform (FSR) legislation as their biggest risk management issue. Human resource...

Automating IT risk management becoming easier: "audits are costly but failure is not an option." So confided the CEO of a Fortune 500 bank in the US last month as he briefed the new IT team.(SPECIAL FEATURE: TECHNOLOGY AND RISK MANAGEMENT)
September 15, 2005... Australia sits behind the US but in front of the UK when it comes to the next wave of risk management and compliance. Post Sarbanes Oxley (and others), the risk and compliance debate is maturing beyond the IT systems needed to report clean...

Ignorance no excuse when protecting assets.(SPECIAL FEATURE: TECHNOLOGY AND RISK MANAGEMENT)
September 15, 2005... TRADITION IN BANKING AND finance dictates that, if you want to protect a valuable item, you either build an insurmountable wall around it, or you lock it up and don't let anyone at it. It's a simple, 'back-off or hands-off' approach that has...

It security complexity a concern: Consolidated Security Platform Pioneer launches local offices to support integrated best-of-breed threat management solutions.(SPECIAL FEATURE TECHNOLOGY AND RISK MANAGEMENT)
September 15, 2005... SEVEN IN TEN (70.6 PERCENT) Australian organisations are concerned about the complexity of their IT security architectures, according to a new survey by Crossbeam Systems[R], Inc., the leader in protecting the world's largest networks. ...

SOA--the future of banking technology?(SPECIAL FEATURE: TECHNOLOGY AND RISK MANAGEMENT)
September 15, 2005... The reported increased profitability in the US and Europe suggests that retail banks are meeting the challenges of recent years. They appear to have avoided the worst effects of major corporate collapses and increased regulatory demands, as...

Technology and risk management--a critical combination.(SPECIAL FEATURE: TECHNOLOGY AND RISK MANAGEMENT)
September 15, 2005... AUSTRALIAN BANKING AND FINANCIAL institutions are entering a phase in the deployment of technology with risks comparable to the Y2K era. Peter Warner. Avanades Practice Director for Delivery, says many institutions have large investments in...

Integrating your business intelligence for increased agility: rapidly evolving business environments are forcing organisations to increase their business agility. They must be capable of responding very quickly to change, be it regulatory, competitive, or driven by market and customer attitudes.(NEWS)
September 15, 2005... To enable such agility, an organisation must be able to rely on consistent information about complex business environments. Such information must be available to the extended enterprise across varying levels of latency--for repeatable, sound...

Coomer warns on electronic security.(MICHAEL COOMER LECTURE--PICTORIAL)
September 15, 2005... Michael Coomer, Group Executive, Business & Technology Solutions & Services, Westpac Banking Corporation, was guest speaker at the recent Australian Banking & Finance Cisco Lecture Series held in Sydney. Varun Batra of Infinity and Alan...

Behind the screens.(NEWS)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2005... Beware of churn Readers will remember the dismissive comments of one top banker when figures came out a few months ago regarding the high churn rate amongst SMEs in the banking sector. Who needs them anyway, was the gist of his thinking?...

Citibank bases training for Chinese staff in Sydney.(NEWS)
September 15, 2005... CITIBANK HAS BEGUN USING AUSTRALIA AS ITS KEY OVERSEAS TRAINING ground for Chinese staff, reinforcing Australia's position as a leader of financial services in the region. The bank has developed a two-year management development training...

Asian Development Bank opens Sydney office; the President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Haruhiko Kuroda and Australian Treasurer Peter Costello have opened the ADB's Pacific Liaison and Coordination Office (PLC0) in Sydney.(NEWS)
September 15, 2005... The strategic location in Sydney will enable ADB to be more responsive to the needs of the Pacific and expand communication with key bilateral development partners including Australia and New Zealand, and multilateral institutions active in the...

Bankers forecast another strong year ahead: Australian Banking & Finance hosted two major functions involving Australia's top banking performers and retail bankers in Sydney recently.
September 30, 2005... Before a combined audience of over 500, and under intense questioning from an animated audience, none had any doubt that strong growth remains in the Australian market for the next 12 months. This galaxy of banking talent included Chris...

Premier industry awards.
September 30, 2005... THE 16TH ANNUAL 2006 AUSTRALIAN BANKING & FINANCE AWARDS ARE OPEN FOR nominations and the awards will once again be sponsored by Optus. Readers are now invited to send in nominations for any or all categories which will be placed before our...

Macquarie leads consortium to acquire Dyno Nobel: a consortium of investors led by Macquarie Bank Limited, recently announced it was successful in its bid to acquire Dyno Nobel Holding ASA for a total consideration of approximately US$1.7 billion.(NEWS)
September 30, 2005... Dyno Nobel Holding is a commercial explosives company headquartered in Norway and predominantly owned by Industri Kapital, a European private equity firm. The Consortium intends to separate Dyno Nobel Holding into two entities. The...

NAB streamlines group executive committee.(NEWS)
September 30, 2005... NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK HAS streamlined its Group Executive Committee, reducing it to just eight members. The members are: managing director John Stewart; director, Finance and Risk, Michael Ullmer; CEO Australia, Ahmed Fahour; CEO UK,...

Switkowski back on line at Suncorp.(Brief Article)
September 30, 2005... FORMER TELSTRA chief executive Ziggy Switkowski has popped up again as director of Queensland based Suncorp Metway. Suncorp chairman John Story said Switkowski's experience in dealing with a rapidly changing technology environment will...

Visa launches first-ever free internet security assessment service: Visa has taken another step in the fight against payment system fraud by offering the world's first free security assessment service to help boost cardholder data security in the region.(NEWS)
September 30, 2005... Effective immediately, all parties that handle Visa cardholder data, such as Visa's member financial institutions, Internet Payment Service Providers (IPSPs) and merchants are entitled to access a free self-assessment service and to receive...

The weakest link in internet banking: when it comes to internet banking, the old adage about a chain being only as strong as its weakest link can be roughly translated as, "Make your locks more secure than your neighbours.".(NEWS)
September 30, 2005... Banks want to give their customers the convenience and freedom of "anywhere, anytime" banking via the internet. However, the authentication of customers and their transactions pose serious security risks for banks and customers alike. ...

Mac Bank to list media fund.(NEWS)
September 30, 2005... Macquarie Bank has said it will list its Macquarie Media Group (MMG) fund on the ASX and will look to raise between A$927 and A$996 million in an initial public offering. Macquarie said MMG had been set up to acquire and manage a portfolio...

Dynamic and diverse--the Victorian economy and the 21st century: "sound economic management and a series of Government reforms make Victoria a great place to invest and do business.".(SPECIAL FEATURE: VICTORIA)
September 30, 2005... As a result Victoria is the best credentialed Australian state to take advantage of new and emerging industries such as bio-technology, education services and financial services. Victoria has a lot to offer as a business destination....

Focus on financial services succeeding.
September 30, 2005... VICTORIA'S FINANCIAL SERvices sector is the State's third largest industry after manufacturing and property and business services, contributing over $16 billion annually to our economy. It directly employs over 100,000 people or around four per...

Victoria opens central finance and investment research centre.(SPECIAL FEATURE: VICTORIA)(Brief Article)
September 30, 2005... THE STATE OF VICTORIA HAS OPENED A LEADING-edge finance and investment research centre in an effort to enhance its growing reputation as a centre of excellence in financial services. Andre Haermeyer, Minister for Financial Services said,...

2005 'banking stars' debate the big issues.(BANKING STARS--PICTORIAL)
September 30, 2005... A large audience gathered to hear from the top guns of banking and insurance this year (see story page 1). Hosted by Australian Banking Finance magazine and sponsored by Microsoft the stars gave out a sense of "growth with caution" next year....

Queensland's banking success in annual Australian Banking & Finance awards: diversified financial services group Suncorp has reported a 47 percent increase in net profit to $413 million for the six months to December 2004.(Company Profile)
September 30, 2005... Suncorp Metway Best Regional Bank 2005 2001 1999 1998 The group also declared an interim dividend of 42 cents per share fully franked, up from 30 cents for the first half of 2004. Suncorp chairman John Story said the first hall of the...

Sydney's top retail bankers at the Hilton.(Brief Article)
September 30, 2005... A large audience gathered to hear a group of top Sydney financial leaders (see story page 1) on the outlook for 2006. Our entertaining panel was MC'd by the ABC's Peter Ryan and hosted by Australian Banking & Finance and sponsored by QAS and...

MiFID, the next big thing.(Markets in Financial Instruments Directive)
September 30, 2005... THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION HAS RECENTLY PROPOSED A PIECE OF legislation that is regarded by commentators there as being potentially more fundamental and disruptive to the financial services community than Basel II and Sarbanes Oxley combined. The...

Hot air?(Brief Article)
September 30, 2005... Westpac was doing its bit recently in the name of corporate social responsibility, we hear. Forty or so staffers "volunteered" to spend the day planting trees at a farm along the banks of the Murrumbidgee River. This follows hot on the heels of...

All change.(Brief Article)
September 30, 2005... More grumbling in the docklands, a source tells us as NAB's Andrew Thornton, fresh from his successes at St George, is commissioning a rakish but somewhat uncomfortable new uniform and a "back-to-school" training course for frontline staff in a...

Are banks really necessary?(BEHIND THE SCREENS)
September 30, 2005... As we celebrate the 25th anniversary of Australia's first ATM machine (installed in Castlereagh Street, Sydney) it remains one of the great ironies that the simple low-tech piece of equipment had, in 1980, staff unions fearing for the future of...

All's fair.(Brief Article)
September 30, 2005... Determined to "pull level" with the Big Four as soon as humanly possible, BankWest's Paul Clark is adopting a strategy that relies almost entirely on poaching key players from his rivals. With his bank's marketing share doubling over twelve...

Ruthless.(Brief Article)
September 30, 2005... There was some unseemly sniggering from the backroom types in Pitt Street, we are told, with Ralph Norris' formal accession to the top role at CBA coinciding with an embarrassing snarl up in the bank's internal electronic mail system. The last...