New data from the Reserve bank of Australia shows that the total value of charge and credit card transactions including advances fell marginally in October by 0.3 per cent.
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A survey conducted by professional services firm Deloitte suggests that non bank finance companies are expected to capture a greater share of the mortgage lending market next year, after funding constraints that caused them to cede business to the Big Four lenders subsides and global financial markets continue to recover their health.
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Australia’s super fund industry will be allowed to continue the controversial practice of stock lending, but may end up being more tightly regulated in order to curtail any elevated risks that they may face as a result of the practice.
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Australian banking major National Australia Bank says it is considering its options, and may participate in the trend of consolidation that is occurring in the British banking sector, where it owns two lenders, The Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks.
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Australian banking major Westpac once again moved to quell criticism from its surprise 45 basis point rate hike, defending its decision yet again by saying lenders having to absorb higher funding costs would result in a weaker financial system.
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In what can only be described as a stunning turn of events, Australian banking major upped the ante, offering a surprise higher bid for insurer AXA Asia Pacific Holdings (APH), trumping a rival bid which has been in the works for the last month launched by French insurance giant AXA SA and Australian wealth manager AMP.
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Major institutional shareholders of Asia Pacific insurer AXA Asia Pacific Holdings (APH) are intensifying pressure on the company’s board to approve the $12.8 billion joint takeover bid from French insurance giant AXA SA, and Australian wealth manager AMP as APH board members meet Wednesday to consider a revised deal.
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On Monday, Australian banking major Westpac moved to re-open the once frozen market for residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS), launching a $1 billion offering.
Although there have been a number of smaller offerings issued by regional lenders without the use of the government guarantee recently. The Westpac deal is the first issue of RMBS by a major lender since May 2007, when the market effectively closed as a result of the global financial crisis.
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Amid an environment of the gradual phasing out of first time home buyer grant and rising interest rates, an industry forecaster says it believes that mortgage lending could decline in 2010.
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Australian wealth manager, AMP and its partner French insurance giant AXA SA have sweetened their joint acquisition bid for AXA Asia Pacific Holdings to $12.85 billion from an original bid of $11.7 billion.
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