APRA issued compliance orders on AMP’s super arm amid continued concerns over the company’s management in the wake of the financial services royal comission, requiring AMP Super to make significant changes to its business practices. “Areas identified for improvement include conflicts of interest management, governance and risk management practices, breach remediation processes, addressing poor risk culture and strengthening accountability mechanisms,” APRA said in a statement.
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ):
ANZ Bank has decided to repay more than 1000 financial advice customers in full after trying to avoid paying them the full amount.The change of heart came after the corporate regulator told the bank its approach of repaying customers only a fraction of the fee they were charged for a service they never received was unacceptable. The bank previously had decided the annual reviews customers did not receive formed only a component of the services promised and therefore it refunded only between 45 per cent and 60 per cent of the fees charged.
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ):
The corporate regulator has vowed to monitor “the phasing out” of an ANZ service that entangled it in a fee for no service scandal, as the bank became the latest of the big four to comply with a enforceable undertaking. In a statement today, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission said ANZ had provided an attestation from EY Australia that it had met the conditions set in the court enforceable undertaking over charging fees for no service. “ASIC is satisfied with the audited attestation and the independent expert report,” the regulator said. “Compliance with the obligations under the CEU is now finalised, save for the payment of some remaining refunds due to clients, to be completed by mid-July 2019.” In March last year ANZ was hit with the undertaking regarding its fees for no service conduct under its Prime Access service. ASIC’s statement said ANZ will no longer offer the Prime Access service to new customers and will phase it out for other customers over the next 18 months. The regulator pledged to “monitor the phasing out”.
Bligh Resources (BGH) & Saracen Mineral (SAR):
Bligh Resources has doubled its market value in Friday’s trade after a takeover bid from neighbouring miner Saracen Minerals. Saracen lobbed an all-scrip offer for the junior miner this morning, valuing the company at $38.2 million. Shares in Bligh were last trading at 13c, double their previous closing price and at a premium to Saracen’s bid of 12.8c per share. Saracen meanwhile is up by 5.76 per cent to $3.67. “The Offer makes sense for both companies. Saracen’s infrastructure at our nearby Thunderbox operations means we can unlock the value of Bundarra and this is reflected in the share price premium we have offered to Bligh shareholders,” Saracen managing director Raleigh Finlayson told the market this morning. Bligh’s board has unanimously backed the offer, along with major shareholder Zeta Resources, who together represent 88.47pc of Bligh shares.
Commonwealth Bank (CBA) & National Australia Bank (NAB):
Commonwealth Bank and NAB have penalised savers a week after passing on the RBA’s full interest rate cut to borrowers. Both banks - who passed on June’s full 0.25 per cent RBA cash rate cut - have reduced the base rate on their online savings accounts by 0.20 percentage points, leaving them at 0.30 per cent. The base rate is the ongoing rate of interest after the promotional introductory bonus expires after three, four or five months. NAB also announced on Friday cuts to its term deposit rates of between 0.10 and 0.25 percentage points for various terms,following CBA’s earlier move. Fellow “big four” players ANZ and Westpac are yet to announce changes to savings account rates but Canstar’s finance expert Steve Mickenbecker said they shouldn’t be too far behind. “Having held on to part of the home loan cut, (ANZ and Westpac) may be in a position to not cut so deep,” Mr Mickenbeckersaid.
Mcgrath Ltd (MEA):
Listed real estate agency McGrath says it expects a full year core earnings loss of $6 million to $6.5 million due to continual headwinds across the nation's housing market. The ASX-listed realtor said on Friday market conditions for FY19 had been challenging with transaction volumes and property values in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne further subdued in the 12 months to May. "While we have seen a general improvement in interest and enthusiasm in the market, we are yet to see this translate to an increase in listings," chief executive Geoff Lucas said in a statement. In a separate announcement on Friday McGrath revealed the appointment of Howard Herman as chief financial officer, effective June 24.
Victory Offices Limited (VOL):
Flexible office space provider Victory Offices has edged higher on its ASX debut, up nearly10 per cent from its initial offering price as investors look to profit from the co-working trend. Victory shares were trading for $2.20 at 1pm, two hours after they began trading under the symbol VOL. “It’s been well received today, which is always pleasing,” chief financial officer Geoff Hollis said. The company raised $30 million in an initial public offering underwritten by Ord Minnett, selling 15 million shares at $2 a share. Founded in 2013, Victory doesn’t own any premises but has 21 long-term leases across high-quality buildings - 16 in Melbourne,four Sydney and one in both Brisbane and Perth. It had 1,662 customers it describes as a mix of individuals, small businesses, startups and big corporations in industriessuch as finance, legal and recruitment, technology and consulting. Its occupancy was at 89 per cent as of June 11.
Wesfarmers (WES):
The ACCC has initiated an inquiry into Wesfarmers’ $230 million acquisition of Catch Group, with a final decision due on August 15. Wesfarmers boss Rob Scott had noted the acquisition was subject to ACCC approval. Wesfarmers owns KMart, Target and 15 per cent of Coles, while Catch operates an online general merchandise market. The ACCC investigation comes as Wesfarmers is reporting slower sales in its general merchandise division, which is affecting profits. Cautious consumers are one thing but the company has also clearly made some mistakes. It confided on Thursday that Target makes 95 per cent of its gross profit on 50 per cent of its merchandise. The question is, then, what the other 50 per cent of products is doing in their stores. At Kmart, the retailer has hit supply chain issues, which tells you that under past management it had pushed the button too hard and, put simply, the retailer can’t handle it in a slow trading environment.
(Source: AIMS)
Latest comments