Australian Finance News

Treasury Secretary Says Australian Financial Services Highly Competitive
The Federal Treasury believes that the financial services industry in Australia remains highly competitive, despite the capturing of a large proportion of market share in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

Super Fund Reform Two Decades Too Late Says Industry
Kevin Rudd’s government says it full intends to follow through with controversial new regulations for the superannuation industry despite vehement opposition from the sector.

Australian Central Bank Remains Reluctant Regulator Of Electronic Payments System
The Australian central bank, The Reserve bank of Australia (RBA) says it remains a "reluctant regulator" of competition in the electronic card payments system space. The RBA says it prefers competition as the mechanism used to contain fees, and would prefer to take a step back instead, however RBA assistant governor Malcolm Edey says it is not quite ready to do so.

NAB Optimistic Over AXA APH Acquisition
Steve Tucker, chief executive of MLC, the wealth management unit of Australian banking major National Australia Bank (NAB) says he is confident that the lenders $13.2 billion bid for AXA Asia Pacific Holdings (APH) will ultimately be successful, despite the fact that the ACCC on Friday deferred its ruling on the deal.

RBA Says Major Australian Banks Profiting At Expense Of Customers
The Reserve Bank of Australia says that Australia’s major lenders are using higher funding costs as an excuse to profit at the expense of mortgage borrowers and businesses. The RBA found that the tendency by the majors to increase their interest rates beyond that of official interest rates has meant that they have managed to offset [...]