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’Australian banks’ll be right, mate
There was a bit of a furore in Australia this month when the big banks looked like — shock, horror — they would not immediately pass on an official interest rate cut in full to their mortgage clients.
Risk-weighting down under
There might be some wiggling about liquidity but the worldwide work of getting banks ready for Basel III goes on. Though there’s been an interesting development in Australia recently.
Australian banks
Live and lend loose, or, mortgages down under
A data point for the Australian housing bubble debate.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts have a great report questioning how Australian banks calculate mortgage approvals. It’s been picked up by Macro Business,
ANZ to buy out ING from JV
ANZ, Australia’s fourth-biggest bank, agreed to pay ING Group €1.1bn ($1.6bn) in cash for its stake in their insurance and wealth-management venture, reports Bloomberg. ING will sell its 51% stake in ING Australia and ING New Zealand to ANZ Bank,
Aussie banks are doing fine, thanks mate
What do you know – Australian banks punch way above their weight, according to new figures that show Australia’s four big retail banks and Macquarie, the investment bank, have raised a combined $82bn of government-guaranteed debt since October.
ANZ to buy RBS Asia units
Australia’s ANZ on Tuesday agreed to buy part of Royal Bank of Scotland’s Asian banking assets for $550m in a deal which bolsters its strategy to become a “super-regional” lender, reports the FT. ANZ will buy RBS units in Taiwan,
StanChart, ANZ in talks for RBS assets
Standard Chartered and ANZ have both entered exclusive talks to acquire separate parts of the Asian retail and commercial assets being sold by Royal Bank of Scotland. Both bidders were last week granted preferred bidder status for different RBS assets,
ANZ seeks RBS Asian assets
ANZ, one of Australia’s top banks, may buy Royal Bank of Scotland Group’s units in at least five Asian countries as the government-controlled bank splits its assets in the region to attract buyers,
Sale of RBS Asian assets to ‘drag on’
The sale of Royal Bank of Scotland’s Asian assets is likely to drag on through the summer after failing to attract enough bids amid uncertainty surrounding the divestment. Potential bidders had until last weekend to table non-binding offers,
The race for RBS’s Asian assets: ANZ plays in the big league
ANZ, Australia’s fourth largest bank, is going up against the big boys in the race for some of RBS’s Asian assets, and on Wednesday signalled it means business by launching an A$2.5bn ($2.3bn) rights issue to fund a prospective bid.
ANZ to raise $2bn in bid for RBS assets
ANZ, Australia’s fourth-largest lender, plans to raise A$2.5bn ($2bn) by selling shares to bolster capital as it bids for Royal Bank of Scotland’s Asian assets, reports Bloomberg. ANZ will sell the shares to institutional investors at A$14.40 each,
ANZ H1 profit falls 28%
ANZ, Australia’s fourth-largest lender, said on Wednesday that profit fell 28% in the first half as bad debts almost doubled, reports Bloomberg. The stock slumped nearly 5%, the most in more than two months,
RBS Asian assets sale under cloud
Regulatory uncertainties surrounding the sale of Royal Bank of Scotland’s Asian assets could limit the price that bidders are prepared to offer and possibly delay any divestment. The stricken UK bank last month started a process to offload its retail and commercial operations in eight Asian countries.
NAB, ANZ warn on bad debts
National Australia Bank and ANZ Banking Group said rising bad debts are eroding profit growth as losses spread from financial markets to the wider economy, reports Bloomberg. NAB, the country’s biggest by assets,
Australian banks raise $5.7bn
CBA, Westpac and ANZ raised $5.7bn this week selling stock and bonds to boost balance sheets dented by rising defaults, reports Bloomberg . CBA, the second-biggest bank by market value, offered government-backed debt as part of a A$1.25bn ($824m) bond sale Tuesday and said Wednesday that it would sell up to A$750m in stock to Merrill Lynch.
Former BA chief to chair ANZ
ANZ, Australia’s third-largest lender, has appointed Sir Rod Eddington to succeed long-standing chairman Charles Goode from the middle of next year, in a move designed to boost the credibility of its board.
ANZ gains Vietnam banking licence
ANZ has secured a 99-year licence to open a subsidiary in Vietnam, making the Australian bank the third foreign operator to be allowed to open wholly-owned banks in the country. Last month HSBC and Standard Chartered won approval to be the first overseas banks to incorporate their local operations in Vietnam,
Why the Aussies should stick to rugby
Apart from Australia’s lead in the current Tri-nations rugby contest, things are turning distinctly pear-shaped Down Under, notes Lex. As they reveal bad news and more bad news, banks are jacking up provisions with gusto,
Australia’s ANZ issues profit warning
ANZ bank, Australia’s third-biggest lender, issued a profit warning on Monday, forecasting more than $1bn in bad debt charges, as the global credit crisis started to hurt the country’s previously buoyant banks.
Telling it like it is, Down Under
How refreshing. The chief executive of ANZ is “somewhat pissed off.” Aren’t we all, Mr Smith.
Makes you wonder if a little antipodean frankness might have gone down better with beleaguered investors in US banks,
ANZ lines up Wing Lung bid
ANZ, Australia’s third largest bank, is among bidders shortlisted to buy a 53% stake in Wing Lung Bank, a mid-sized Hong Kong lender. The Wu family, which founded Wing Lung 75 years ago, put its controlling stake in the publicly listed bank up for sale last month.
ANZ flags increased bad-debt provisions
Tougher global credit conditions and market volatility on Monday forced ANZ to set aside A$975m ($904m) of provisions against bad and doubtful debt for the 2008 first half, an increase of more than 70% over the same period last year.
ANZ keen to attract sovereign fund cash
Australia & New Zealand Banking Group on Thursday said it would welcome further investment from sovereign wealth funds and that it was considering a stock market listing in Asia, reports the FT on Friday.
China buys into Australian banks, eyes London
A secretive subsidiary of China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange, manager of the world’s largest forex reserves, has bought stakes in three of Australia’s largest banks, raising fresh questions about transparency of China’s sovereign wealth investments in international markets.
ANZ pulls mortgage unit sale
ANZ, the Australian bank, has decided against selling its wholesale mortgage distribution business, saying on Monday that it had struggled to attract a fair price for the division due to the volatility in global debt markets.
Former ANZ executive sues over CEO job
A disgruntled former executive of ANZ has launched court proceedings against the Australian bank after failing to secure the role of chief executive. Steven Targett alleges that ANZ in 2004 lured him out of his highly-paid job at UK bank Lloyds TSB with promises he would be groomed to succeed John McFarlane,
HSBC executive to head ANZ
ANZ, Australia’s third largest bank, on Tuesday sought to draw a line under months of uncertainty over its management by appointing an outsider from HSBC as its new chief executive. Michael Smith, a veteran HSBC executive who heads up the bank’s Asia-Pacific operations,
People: Axa/Winterthur, HSBC, ANZ, Credit Suisse
Swiss insurance company Winterthur’s head of alternative investments, Christoph Manser, is moving across to Axa Investment Managers, the French group which bought Winterthur from Credit Suisse last summer,