12 Jul 2022
Alternative finance services ruffle a few feathers
Andrew Cornell |
Bigtech, fintech, DeFi, Neobank, Metabank… if it quacks the regulators will be duck hunting.
Regulation
27 Jun 2022
Heightened cyber security risk increases regulatory exposure
Paul Kallenbach | Partner – Technology & Data, MinterEllison
The volume of attempted cyber-attacks is growing. But individuals are becoming more adept at recognising suspicious activity.
17 May 2022
Rebuilding trust with product and service design
Rosalyn Teskey | Partner, Deloitte
Taking a conduct-led approach to product and service design seeks to bolster community confidence in financial services post-Royal Commission.
04 May 2022
BEHIND THE NUMBERS: knocking on innovation’s door
Ken Adams | Group General Counsel, ANZ
Forming a non-operating holding company will allow ANZ to focus on, and invest in, innovative banking technologies in a more simple manner.
23 Sep 2021
LIBOR’s swan song
Duncan Marshall & David Doyle | LIBOR Transition-Business & LIBOR Transition-Communications Lead, ANZ Institutional
With not long before non-US dollar LIBOR is relegated to the financial markets history books, firms that rely on these rates need to act quickly.
01 Sep 2021
Future of payments: review or preview?
Andrew Cornell | Past Managing Editor, bluenotes
Australia’s payments system is large, diverse and very complex. And globally interlinked. So has regulation kept up with the pace of innovation?
24 Feb 2021
Regulators rule on climate risk
Andrew Cornell | Past Managing Editor, bluenotes
With the US government back on board with addressing climate change risks, businesses and regulators are getting on with the job.
23 Feb 2021
Insolvency through the looking glass
Miles Grant | Senior Lawyer, ANZ
New insolvency laws will allow small and micro businesses to restructure with more simplicity and less red tape.
11 Dec 2019
Gradually then suddenly - the future of banking
Andrew Cornell | Past Managing Editor, bluenotes
Will 2019 be the year we all look back at and see a tipping point for upheaval in financial services?
16 Oct 2019
The umpires decide on climate change
Andrew Cornell | Past Managing Editor, bluenotes
Whatever the position on climate science, change is coming and customers and regulators are calling for it.
26 Sep 2019
Speaking up for culture
Clare Molan | Whistleblower Program Lead, ANZ
New whistleblower legislation will deliver value to both organisations and their wider communities.
17 Sep 2019
Illegal wildlife trafficking: why banks matter
Steve Cumber & Kim Downs | Financial Crime Advisory Lead & Fraud and ABAC Lead, ANZ
Illegal wildlife trafficking is wiping out threatened species, damaging habitats and communities.
22 Aug 2019
Gonski: our self-assessment and what we are doing
David Gonski AC | Chairman at ANZ
ANZ Chairman outlines actions the bank is taking to address issues raised by APRA self-assessment.
21 Aug 2019
Are banks too profitable? Or not profitable enough?
Andrew Cornell | Past Managing Editor, bluenotes
Although bank profits might not be a crowd favourite, they’re necessary - and good - for the economy. So say the regulators.
07 Aug 2019
The global financial crisis: still going strong
Andrew Cornell | Past Managing Editor, bluenotes
Competition and innovation need to be weighted carefully in the aftermath, and forefront, of a crisis.
20 Mar 2019
Why the world wants more regulation. And what it means
Andrew Cornell | Past Managing Editor, bluenotes
There are a multitude of reasons why momentum is shifting towards more rules and regulations.
21 Feb 2019
Elliott: tighter conditions ahead for mortgage markets
Andrew Cornell | Past Managing Editor, bluenotes
ANZ CEO Shayne Elliott discusses the outlook for credit quality and customer commitments post-Royal Commission.
14 Feb 2019
Elliott: responding to the Royal Commission
Brett Foley | Managing Editor, bluenotes
ANZ CEO says the bank must respond to the Royal Commission’s recommendations in two ways.
16 Jan 2019
Goat entrails and banks
Andrew Cornell | Past Managing Editor, bluenotes
What’s to come in 2019 for the banking and financial services sector?
12 Jun 2018
The shifting perspectives on risk
Tim Dring | Oceania Banking & Capital Markets leader, EY
Strong third-party risk strategies are an important part of building a competitive advantage in financial services.
14 May 2018
Privacy is dead; long live privacy
Michelle Pinheiro | Head of Enterprise Data Governance, ANZ
Our personal privacy has been declared DOA numerous times – but there may be a glimmer of hope.
14 Feb 2018
INTERACTIVE: million-dollar Valentine
Catriona Noble | Managing Director Retail Distribution Australia, ANZ
Australians lost close to $A9 million in the six months leading up to Valentine’s Day.
05 Jan 2018
Restoring, rationalising and reinventing risk
Doug Nixon & Will De Vere Gould | Financial Services Partner & Director, EY Australia
There’s a fundamental shift underway in the way banks manage risk. Where will it all lead?
04 Oct 2017
Regulators vow to be more cultured
Andrew Cornell | Past Managing Editor, bluenotes
Culture’s hard to create – and maintain – but shouldn’t be written off as unmanagable.
05 Jul 2017
The GFC: When will it end?
Andrew Cornell | Past Managing Editor, bluenotes
A decade after the financial crisis, have we learned anything? It’s a crisis which keeps on taking.
18 May 2017
Financial crime's dynamic duo: AUSTRAC & industry
Guy Boyd | Head of Financial Crime, ANZ
We speak to AUSTRAC CEO Paul Jevtovic on the relationship between regulators and the private industry.
21 Apr 2017
Internal fraud: don’t be surprised, be prepared
Greg Scott | Senior Governance Manager, ANZ NZ
Be shocked. But don’t be surprised by the discovery an employee is stealing from your business.
29 Mar 2017
Inflation, not employment, now guides RBA on rates
David Plank & Giulia Lavinia Specchia | Head of Australian Economics & Economist, ANZ
A demand for increased duration, diversification and the rise of Asian liquidity are the biggest factors facing Australia’s capital markets sector as we head into the middle of 2017, according to the co-heads of capital markets at ANZ.
01 Feb 2017
Cracking down on cash is not enough
Andrew Cornell | Past Managing Editor, bluenotes
The shock-and-awe attack by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the cash economy, when he used his fiat powers to eradicate fiat currency – unilaterally cancelling high value currency notes – was just the latest in a long line of attempts to crush so-called 'black' economies.
09 Jan 2017
No end in sight to risk pressures on banks
Doug Nixon | EY Oceania Financial Services Partner
There is no doubt the banking industry, both locally and globally, has made considerable inroads when it comes to improving its ability to manage risks since the global financial crisis.
15 Dec 2016
China's internet loan revolution
Shiro Armstrong | Editor, East Asia Forum
Internet finance may be a new development in China but its impact is now everywhere.
04 Nov 2016
Consumers are demanding sustainable business practices
Sarah Boumphrey | Head of Strategic, Economic and Consumer Insight, EuroMonitor International
Sustainability is top of the agenda for consumer goods companies as customer attitudes evolve.
18 Oct 2016
Is the South Australian blackout a wake-up call for renewables?
Dr Tim Nelson | Head of Economics, Policy and Sustainability, AGL & Adjunct Associate Professor, Griffith University
There has been much discussion about why South Australia experienced a state-wide blackout during massive storms in September. Despite the rhetoric, it is too early to definitively talk about ‘causes’ given the complex nature of the electricity system.
18 Oct 2016
The procedural challenges in managing reputation risk
Andrew Cornell | Past Managing Editor, bluenotes
There is little doubt much has been done on the risk and regulation front since the financial crisis of 2008. Nor is there any lack of debate about how effective the measures have been. The to-and-fro over capital, ‘too-big-to-fail’, acceptable profits, culture and remuneration continue.
17 Oct 2016
Getting a Handel on paying bankers to help customers
Steve Worthington | Professor at Swinburne University
It was, with hindsight, inevitable Wells Fargo chairman and chief executive John Stumpf would resign, to be replaced not just by a new chief executive but a quasi-independent chairman.
19 Sep 2016
It’s good business to put things right
Kylie Rixon | Chief Risk Officer Wealth and Digital, ANZ
Things go wrong in business. In this day and age when that happens the news can be instantly all over social media. The community is very sensitive to corporate culture and banks in particular.
06 Sep 2016
The cost of misconduct
Andrew Cornell | Past Managing Editor, bluenotes
The G20’s deliberations over the weekend demonstrated the financial crisis is not over some eight years later. Global growth is fragile, monetary policy fraught, trade barriers are growing not falling (for example, in the year up to the latest confab, G20 governments imposed 350 new measures discriminating against foreign commercial interests, almost four times the number in 2009).
05 Sep 2016
How Asia is responding to the green challenge
Benjamin McCarron | Managing Director, Asia Research and Engagement
Momentum is growing in Asia behind regulations and initiatives to tackle the growing global problem of climate change. The last few years has seen a number of major domestic initiatives to encourage more sustainable approaches to green finance across Asia.
05 Sep 2016
Class is in: the future of collective action
Jenny Campbell & Belinda Thompson | Partners, Allens
Class actions have featured frequently in the press in recent years, often with a theme of a developing crisis for Australian business.
26 Aug 2016
Evolving global risks and the challenge of reform
Dr Martin Joy | Senior Manager Public Policy, ANZ
With Brexit’s political and economic disruptions continuing to unfold, the latest Global Risks Report from the World Economic Forum makes for eerily prescient reading.
25 Aug 2016
Eight ways to protect your business from the cybercrime wave
Craig Bromley | Head of Digital Design & Readiness, Wholesale Digital Transformation
Not a day passes now without us being reminded digital technology can be both friend and foe. Cloud computing, centralisation of IT resources and greater connectivity are just some of the developments increasing convenience for businesses. Sadly with these developments come risk, and cybercrime is the dark side of doing business in the digital age.
22 Aug 2016
Why unaffordable housing costs us all in the end
Jean-Paul Pelosi | Freelance journalist
If affordable housing is crucial to the success of our society, instilling a sense of security and well-being, then cities like Sydney and Auckland are failing miserably.
19 Aug 2016
The case for climate and electricity policy integration
Dr Tim Nelson | Head of Economics, Policy and Sustainability, AGL & Adjunct Associate Professor, Griffith University
South Australia’s energy market has been the subject of much debate lately. But why? There is little doubt the state is in the vanguard of incorporating large volumes of renewable energy into its supply. The state’s current peak electricity demand is around 3,000 megawatts (MW).
16 Aug 2016
How much is too much bank capital?
Andrew Cornell | Past Managing Editor, bluenotes
It’s indisputable the level of core capital banks must carry is rising higher and higher; nor is it in dispute capital was too low when the financial crisis hit. Indeed, some prominent authorities, including former Bank of England governor Mervyn King and Financial Times columnist Martin Wolf, believe in even higher levels of capital.
09 Aug 2016
Five reasons electronic voting faces big hurdles
Paul Edwards | Manager Operations Strategy, ANZ
In the aftermath of the 2016 Australian federal election a renewed discussion emerged about electronic voting in future ballots. The primary argument is such a move would accelerate the counting of votes and reduce the period of uncertainty following on polling day.
08 Aug 2016
VIDEO: Needless secrecy and the joint fight against corruption
Shane White | Content Manager, Institutional, ANZ
Australia must lift its game in the fight against corruption. The nation needs faster and more-visible law enforcement, increased disclosure and continued cooperation between business and anti-fraud groups.
18 Jul 2016
The winners and losers of the AEC – it’s no EU for better or worse
Luke Hunt | Journalist & Asian correspondent
With hindsight, policy makers might not choose to launch what is called by some an Asian EU at this point in time.
08 Jun 2016
Who is really responsible for compliance?
Mark Evans | Managing Director Transaction Banking, ANZ
“Compliance is good for business,” former ANZ chief executive Mike Smith told me when I took the role of chief compliance officer at the bank back in 2013.
07 Jun 2016
Banks, financial risk and our changing climate
Kate Mackenzie | Manager Investment & Governance, The Climate Institute
Climate change is now widely recognised as presenting potential financial risk. Investors and other financial agents must decide exactly how they respond and take advantage of the opportunities which might arise.
06 Jun 2016
Why clients come first in financial advice
Kylie George | Former financial adviser, Harvest Wealth
Financial advice is often seen as a complex thing but in many ways it is quite simple. In my view, if advisers put clients at the centre of everything we do, we will never go wrong.
02 Jun 2016
Getting the balance right on compliance
Paul Edwards | Manager Operations Strategy, ANZ
Compliance. Is there any other word which can raise the hackles of workers so quickly? Take a straw poll of colleagues and you’ll find compliance issues are among the most common workplace gripes.
25 May 2016
What has Basel meant for global risk?
Brad Carr | Director, Institute of International Finance
Since the financial crisis of 2008, global banking regulators based in Basel with the Financial Stability Board and Bank for International Settlements have worked on ways to improve the financial sector’s measurement of risk.
24 May 2016
BlueNotes Debate: how do you teach innovation?
Louise Halliwell | Director Public Policy & Regulatory Affairs, PWC
Australia’s budding innovation culture has to start from somewhere. Do our education practices give it a chance?
02 May 2016
The NPP, fraud and spies (vs spies)
Shane White | Content Manager, Institutional, ANZ
For as long as humans have used payment systems there has been fraud. IBM Director of Counter Fraud Management Constantin von Altrock says the two sides are likely to fight each other forever - like Antonio Prohias’ Spy vs Spy. But there are steps the sector can take to mitigate the damage.
27 Apr 2016
It’s not the best of times. But not the worst either – mixed messages on the economy
Andrew Cornell | Past Managing Editor, bluenotes
The global economy continues to splutter with the International Monetary Fund once again downgrading its outlook (although still expecting growth) and a swarm of central banks expressing similarly gloomy views.
26 Apr 2016
Why policy needs to adapt to the sharing economy
Dr Jim Minifie | Productivity Growth Program Director, Grattan Institute
The rise of the sharing economy can save Australians more than $A500 million on taxi bills, help them to put underused property and other assets to work, and increase employment and income for people on the fringe of the job market.
21 Apr 2016
Greater confidence in banks helps everyone: Ohlsson
Andrew Cornell | Past Managing Editor, bluenotes
The Australian Bankers’ Association has released a six-point action plan aimed at bolstering consumer confidence in banking, with a focus on protecting whistleblowers, strengthening customer-complaint processes and improving conduct.
20 Apr 2016
China transition on track: Elliott
Andrew Cornell | Past Managing Editor, bluenotes
China’s transition toward a consumption-led economy is clearly underway.
19 Apr 2016
When banks lose the will to live
Andrew Cornell | Past Managing Editor, bluenotes
Death is difficult to talk about. Even the quality media, which have long prided themselves on clarity and simple language, now regularly refer to “passing” rather than dying. There’re more euphemisms for dropping off the twig today than even Monty Python could cope with.
19 Apr 2016
The real long-term cost of bribery
Guy Boyd | Head of Financial Crime, ANZ
It’s an all-too-common argument touted in defence of bribery and corruption: it’s almost impossible to conduct business successfully and efficiently in certain markets, without paying bribes. Or so they say.
11 Apr 2016
Why a shared approach to sanctions is best
Mark Evans, Guy Boyd & Dinesh Anand |
Of all the fines levied against financial institutions in recent years, those imposed on HSBC and BNP Paribas for breaches of sanctions and related financial crime breaches, totalling over $US10 billion, are perhaps the most notable.
05 Apr 2016
What leverage really means for banks
Andrew Cornell | Past Managing Editor, bluenotes
Banks are leveraged plays on economies because they lend their capital many times over. So when economies are strong, banks perform even more strongly.
04 Jan 2016
How to defend against the rising tide of corruption
Mark Evans & Freya Hone | Managing Director Transaction Banking & General Manager Compliance, ANZ
From Lance Armstrong to Executives at FIFA and the International Olympic Committee, the modern sporting world has been rocked by stories of corruption. But according to research from PwC the problem is more widespread than sport - and rising quickly.
17 Nov 2015
The climate challenge of lending "over the horizon"
Andrew Cornell | Past Managing Editor, bluenotes
Banks ignore their regulators at their peril. So when the boss of the Bank of England, who is also chair of the global Financial Stability Board, devotes a major speech to the financial implications of climate change, it's prudent to pay attention.
10 Nov 2015
Full capacity at the regulation factories
Andrew Cornell | Past Managing Editor, bluenotes
The global financial system regulators released a package of materials Monday night in the lead up to the forthcoming G20 summit in Turkey but it hardly allayed concerns the regulatory agenda was no closer to settling down.
07 Oct 2015
The future of capital in the age of regulation
Andrew Palmer & Kevin Wong | Head of FIG Australia & Director Client Insights & Solutions, ANZ
Investors, long term supporters of bank stocks because of their relative stability and dividend yields, are showing signs of wariness. Bank shares in Australia are off their peak by around a third. And underlying the anxiety are two main factors: concerns about the credit cycle and the ongoing demand for more regulatory capital.
07 Oct 2015
Is cyber fear hurting cross-border investment?
Cheng Lim & Michael Swinson | Partners at King & Wood Mallesons
Cyber security is looming as one of the great challenges of the 21st century. Several governments around the world are responding by strengthening online security laws which in some cases are creating a degree of regulatory uncertainty - but, critically, running the risk of deterring cross-border investment.
07 Oct 2015
The role of banks as the climate changes
Christina Tonkin | Managing Director of Corporate Finance ANZ Institutional
What is the role of a bank in addressing the challenge of climate change? Is it to support government policies? Or should banks be doing more to speed up the transition to a low-carbon economy by prioritising the financing of low or zero-emission technologies that have the potential to disrupt traditional models of emissions-intensive energy generation?
25 Sep 2015
Financial literacy a major challenge with credit card interest rates
Steve Worthington | Professor at Swinburne University
If nothing else, the Senate's Standing Committee on Economics Inquiry into the interest rates charged on Australian credit cards has made me even more aware of the low levels of financial literacy in Australia.
02 Sep 2015
Murray Inquiry member welcomes decision on bank deposit levy
Kevin Davis | Emeritus Professor of Finance, University of Melbourne
The Australian government's decision to not impose an upfront fee on banks, based on insured deposits, to fund the Financial Claims Scheme is correct on both logical and practical grounds.
14 Aug 2015
Short term volatility, long term global currency. How will the RMB move from today to the future?
Andrew Cornell | Past Managing Editor, bluenotes
Unsettling economic data, an equities meltdown, now intervention in the Chinese currency market by the central bank. Signs China is stepping back from financial liberalisation?
11 Aug 2015
Foreign property buyers in NZ: how much is too much?
Bernard Hickey | Publisher at Hive News
There are moments in any public debate where a nerve is struck, when suddenly the issue becomes the thing everyone is talking about and triggers a shift in policy.
04 Aug 2015
Regulation: not enough lifeboats. Or too many?
Andrew Cornell | Past Managing Editor, bluenotes
Following the Titanic disaster – the shipwreck not the movie – the global shipping industry and governments vowed to make sea travel safer.
22 Jul 2015
Five ways the IMR will change investment in Australia
Antoinette Elias | Leader Wealth & Asset Management, EY Oceania
For regional investors, good news. Or at least less complexity. The recent passage of the final element of the Investment Manager Regime through the Australian parliament removes tax impediments for foreign managed funds investing into or through Australia.
21 Jul 2015
Banks finally have capital certainty
Paul Edwards | Manager Operations Strategy, ANZ
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority's latest recommendations give the country's biggest banks much of the clarity around capital they have been waiting for, ANZ chief financial officer Shayne Elliott says, and the lender has a number of options available to ensure it meets the new requirements.
29 Jun 2015
Intended, unintended and unexpected consequences of regulation
Andrew Cornell | Past Managing Editor, bluenotes
There are two ways of reading these lines from the new Bank for International Settlements (BIS) annual report: “Despite substantial efforts to strengthen their capital and liquidity positions, advanced economy banks still face market scepticism. As a result, they have lost some of their traditional funding advantage relative to potential customers.”
02 Jun 2015
Regulators want to regulate culture but who regulates culture for the non-regulated?
Andrew Cornell | Past Managing Editor, bluenotes
The issue of trust in banking has been headline news globally in recent months and particularly acute in Australia last week.
04 May 2015
The RBA must put a price on innovation
Andrew Cornell | Past Managing Editor, bluenotes
As giants like Apple and Google and China Union Pay, along with literally thousands of would-be disruptors, try to upend the global payments system, it may seem slightly anachronistic the Reserve Bank of Australia still has its focus on interchange fees – an agenda kicked off well over a decade ago when Apple still just made computers and Google was barely a verb.