Working Paper No.31 Now Available. Central banks chart course of $A. TECHNOLOGY SPECTATOR: Digital banking gets groovy. Cashing in on Kaching. Local business re-embraces debt. Cool hand Goyder has no regrets. No easy way to punt on carbon tax repeal. APRA team eyes Indian IT outsourcing standards. Photo-illustration: Rob Homer Paul Smith The prudential regulator is sending a team to India to evaluate the standards of service providers in that country as Indian firms play an increasingly important role for the Big Four banks, overseeing critical back-office functions.
The move mirrors similar visits by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and the UK’s Financial Services Authority. The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s delegation will assess the operations of companies that outsource for local financial services players, the Indian operations of other multinational IT suppliers, and the ring-fenced operations of Australian institutions, such as ANZ Banking Group, it is understood. APRA’s team will fly out in the final quarter of 2012 under the stewardship of the head of IT risk, David Pegrem. CBA currently has work conducted on its behalf in India by IBM, HCL Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services, HP and Accenture. AMP bases investment team in HK. Sony’s the frontrunner for local mortgage market. John Kehoe Japanese-owned Sony Bank has emerged as the frontrunner to set up an online bank in Australia to compete aggressively against the big four lenders in mortgages.
Market sources said Japan’s three mega banks had undertaken preliminary analysis of expanding into Australia, but it is understood the online banking unit of the Japanese multinational conglomerate, Sony, is the most advanced in plans. A Sony Bank spokeswoman confirmed yesterday it had received approval from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority for its Sydney representative office to undertake a feasibility study into setting up an online operation. It already operates a low-cost branchless bank with cheap interest rates and fees in Japan. The Australian Financial Review reported yesterday that a Japanese bank was drawing up plans to expand to Australia and draw on its huge deposit pools at home to access cheap funding and undercut local banks on home loan interest rates via an online model.
Sony’s vision for Australian loans. Parking: motorists under the pump in all states. Global insurance invader nabs Allens’ heavy-hitters. Libor outrage out of proportion to ‘crime’ Massive Furor in UK Over Libor Manipulation; Where’s the Outrage Here? In case it isn’t yet apparent to you, the unfolding scandal over manipulation of Libor and its Euro counterpart Euribor is a huge deal.
Even though at this point, only Barclays, the UK bank that was first to settle, is in the hot lights, at least 16 other major financial players, which means pretty much everybody, is implicated. ANZ retracts on Bank of Tianjin investment. CBA goes social with Facebook banking. Brian Corrigan and Paul Smith Social networking is about to go financial.
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia plans to let customers bank through Facebook by the end of the year. The move is a new development in a rapidly escalating mobile payments war being waged between major financial institutions and is likely to spark a fresh debate about the security of online and mobile financial services. The Commonwealth Bank is developing an app for the social network that enables payments to Facebook friends, mobile numbers and email addresses. Customers will be able to make BPAY payments and transfer funds or check account balances and transaction histories.
Commonwealth Bank’s David Lindberg discusses the new service with technology reporter Brian Corrigan. CBA head of payments David Lindberg said the app was being tested as the bank worked through privacy and fraud concerns. “This will be transformative for consumers but also for businesses,” he said. “It is a generational thing. Investors wary of central bank moves. Can women have it all? If men man up. Geoff Winestock I am going to out myself.
On Tuesday afternoons in winter I leave work by 4.45 pm so I can coach my 13-year-old daughter’s soccer team. I am aware that when I skulk off at 4.45pm, I could be branded as a malingerer. I try to make up for it by coming in early on Tuesdays but it does involve some rescheduling of things which makes it clear that I have priorities other than work. Sorry, boss. Power market in danger of ‘death spiral’
Marcus Priest The electricity market is in danger of a “death spiral” as wealthy households use less power and install solar panels while poorer families bear the brunt of the cost of huge investments in transmission networks, according to economists at AGL Energy.
While public attention has been focused on the carbon tax, research out today by Australia’s biggest gas and electricity retailer, co-written by the company’s chief economist, Paul Simshauser, and head of economics, Tim Nelson, highlights what it calls a far bigger problem in the national electricity market. The pair urge state and federal governments to consider controversial measures to help the energy market become more efficient, including charging more for electricity during high demand periods, household smart meters, and monthly bills.
Carbon dealing not over for Labor as floor price put on the table. For both sides, carbon tax silence is golden.