18 Aug 2017
Mobile history: drive-up banking & more
James Wilson |
In the first of our ANZ History Series, we take a look at the evolution of banking mobility.
Business Finance
14 Aug 2017
From farm to fridge, give or take 8000km
Guy Thompson | BlueNotes contributing editor
Bulla CEO Alan Hood talks to bluenotes about milking the opportunities for Australian dairy in Asia.
11 Aug 2017
blueprints: from Pies to Patriots
Thomas Hounslow | Data Editor
The world’s 50 most-valuable sporting clubs are in a league of their own compared to teams in Australia.
09 Aug 2017
Road transport: changed conditions ahead
Timothy Suffield | Associate Director, IIB, ANZ
Trucking needs $A3.5 billion in new capital over the next five years. Where will it come from?
08 Aug 2017
VIDEO: the agtech revolution starts with people
Simone Stella | bluenotes contributor
Agriculture faces a generational opportunity as the next wave of farmers come from a deeper technological background.
27 Jul 2017
A new way to cultivate capital for farming’s future
Sam Marwood | Co-founder at Cultivate Farms
An ag startup aims to rejuvenate Australia’s farming communities by match-making young and existing families.
26 Jul 2017
Ripped off or not?
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
The debate around credit card surcharges has raised its head again in the wake of a ruling in Britain.
24 Jul 2017
The accumulative benefits of agtech
Reina Webster-Iti | bluenotes contributor
Modern technology saves time and energy on the farm – and leads to better outcomes.
21 Jul 2017
Alibaba, fintech & techfin
Steve Worthington | Professor at Swinburne University
Move over financial services and fintechs – techfins are here to eat your lunch.
20 Jul 2017
How to get millennials involved in their future
Erin Truscott | Adviser & shareholder at GCA Financial Pty Ltd
Research suggests millennials aren’t engaged with financial advice – but there are ways the profession can help.
19 Jul 2017
Identity theft: stopping a digital zombie apocalypse
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
Hordes of fake identities are being created for the purpose of illegally obtaining credit.
17 Jul 2017
Is Australia’s tech infrastructure letting farmers down?
Sarah Lang | Regional Executive, ANZ
Aus agri must increase productivity and efficiency - and technology can play a major role.
17 Jul 2017
Super: the great Australian apathy
Alexis George | Group Executive Wealth, ANZ
More than half of all Australians significantly underestimate how much superannuation they’ll need for independence.
12 Jul 2017
The new, old, new work paradigm
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
Rarely has there been a greater business focus on the need to fundamentally transform – and banks are at the epicentre.
11 Jul 2017
The tech tidal wave building for NZ agri
Briar McCormack | bluenotes contributor
Producers should expect more tech-driven change around traceability, food quality, animal welfare and environmental issues.
11 Jul 2017
PODCAST: is India the next big thing?
Leon Gettler | Veteran and highly regarded management journalist
On the cusp of regulatory change India – the world’s largest democracy – offers immense investment opportunity.
11 Jul 2017
Why bank guarantees need blockchain
Hari Janakiraman, Rodolf Salem & Chris T’en |
A cross-industry initiative shows blockchain can cut costs and improve security in bank guarantees in commercial property leasing and beyond.
07 Jul 2017
Aus agtech: fast, nimble & taking on the world
Isaac Rankin | GM Regional Business Banking, ANZ
The nature of Australian agricultural technology gives players the ability to take on the world.
05 Jul 2017
The GFC: When will it end?
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
A decade after the financial crisis, have we learned anything? It’s a crisis which keeps on taking.
04 Jul 2017
Setting up your SME for the new FY
Tania Motton | ANZ General Manager, Business Banking Australia
Tax time doesn’t have to be a struggle for SMEs. Here are six tips for setting up for FY18 success.
03 Jul 2017
Sprouting through gaps in the market
Reina Webster-Iti | bluenotes contributor
For Kathryn Fleming, the success of her start-up stems from perseverance.
30 Jun 2017
Q&A: BoE’s Carney on the role of business on climate
Francine Lacqua | Bloomberg
FSB chair chats to Bloomberg about climate and financial stability ahead of G-20 meeting.
27 Jun 2017
Success on the hop in NZ
Briar McCormack | bluenotes contributor
The craft beer explosion has led to a renaissance for its key ingredient – and those who produce it.
22 Jun 2017
Positive signs for China’s onshore financial market
Khoon Goh | Head of Asia Research, ANZ
Positive signs for China’s onshore financial market should incentivise Chinese regulators to further improve its regulatory transparency and oversight.
20 Jun 2017
The gilded outlook for gold
Daniel Hynes | Senior Commodity Strategist, ANZ
Asia’s emerging economy means good news for prospectors in the gold market.
20 Jun 2017
Podcast: Drones for good
David Lewis | Australian business professional and founder of The Mentor List
Catherine Ball argues drone technology is underutilised In the Mentor List’s latest podcast.
20 Jun 2017
Work needed to fulfil agtech promise in Aus
Simone Stella | bluenotes contributor
Infrastructure needed to support AgTech has the potential to provide huge cost and efficiency savings.
20 Jun 2017
NZ agri: there’s an app for that
Con Williams | Rural Economist NZ, ANZ
A technology tsunami is upon the primary sectors. What are the apps which will help?
19 Jun 2017
Malicious software demands your attention
Lynwen Connick | CISO, ANZ
With the dust settled around WannaCry, what are the lessons for businesses?
16 Jun 2017
VIDEO: Japan’s maturing premium market
Simone Stella | bluenotes contributor
Australian agriculture’s prospects are only growing in Japan, ANZ’s Grant Knuckey says.
15 Jun 2017
Microbiz looks to growth
Tim Honcoop | Account Director at DBM Consultants
Microbusinesses are less concerned with industry conditions compared with their larger counterparts.
08 Jun 2017
Agtech: not just another buzzword
Mark Bennett | Head of Australian Agribusiness, ANZ
On-farm technology will play a major role in helping Australian farmers reach higher levels of productivity - and profit.
07 Jun 2017
Banking industry: time to swot
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
It’s lonely at the top. Banks need to learn from their mistakes.
06 Jun 2017
PODCAST: volatile times for M&A in APAC
Leon Gettler | Veteran and highly regarded management journalist
Experts discuss implications of geopolitical uncertainty and merger activity.
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.
15 May 2017
How to capture the millennial market: go bush
Adele Fiene | Regional Executive, ANZ
For businesses in regional Australia, learning how to capture China’s expanding middle class is a ticket to success.
11 May 2017
Budget2017: certainty for SMEs
Gabrielle Mitchell | BlueNotes contributing editor
Kate Gibson speaks on video about the impact of the federal budget on small businesses.
10 May 2017
Budget2017: carrots, sticks and steel
David Plank | Head of Australian Economics at ANZ
The Australian Commonwealth Budget maintains a projected return to surplus in 2020-21. This infographic spells out the details.
10 May 2017
VIDEO: the key to Budget2017
Richard Yetsenga | ANZ chief economist
The Australian Government has attempted an ambitious budget tonight and should be welcomed.
10 May 2017
ESG transparency crucial for biz: Elliott
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
ANZ has a responsibility to be transparent about its impacts, CEO says.
02 May 2017
ANZ overhauls its organisational approach to improve customer experience
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
ANZ is shaking up its management style in a move CEO Shayne Elliott hopes will improve the way the bank responds to customer needs, empower staff and improve productivity.
27 Apr 2017
Bridging the gap for rural healthcare
Cindy Arthur | Head of Health, Regional Business Banking, at ANZ
As chronic disease grows and Australians continue to age, access to quality healthcare and the services provided by GPs - including specialists - becomes increasingly critical.
27 Apr 2017
How to make it big in Asia (from someone big in Asia)
Jane Cooper | BlueNotes contributing editor
No-added-sugar chocolate, Superfoods and Cancer Council sunscreen are among the products of Vitality Brands Group, an Australian company founded by James Wright (CEO) and Richard Meyrick in 2003.
24 Apr 2017
Sorry we missed you!
Terrie Lloyd | CEO, Japan Travel KK
One of Japan's big-three parcel delivery companies, Yamato, dropped a bombshell when an "inside source" told a major daily newspaper they would gradually end their same-day deliveries for Amazon Prime customers.
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.
20 Apr 2017
Pressures and promise for banking in APAC
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
Judging by the headlines of McKinsey & Co’s latest Asia-Pacific Banking Review, it’s becoming less attractive to bank in the region as an era when this part of the world was the most fertile for growth loses vigour.
20 Apr 2017
Asia-Pacific Perspective: fool’s gold in India?
Tony Walker | Author and Former Editor
In the Australia-India trading partnership much that glitters is fool’s gold.
20 Apr 2017
ON THE COUCH: Elliott on business’ most important resource
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
If you’re trying to work out the source of a problem in your business – no matter what the size – it’s worth taking a closer look at your people, ANZ CEO Shayne Elliott says.
12 Apr 2017
Bank of England: Do as I say, not as I do
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
For a central banker, Andy Haldane is a Shakespearean fool – not that he’s foolish, in fact exactly the opposite. Under the guise of speeches with titles like The Dog and the Frisbee he cuts through the pomp of the regulatory court with incisive and often irreverent – and sometimes perplexing – wit.
06 Apr 2017
Is China’s impossible miracle possible?
Jason Qi | Director in Client Insights and Solutions at ANZ
According to the old wisdom, 2017, the Year of the Rooster on the Chinese horoscope, suggests we can expect to see miracles emerge from seemingly impossible situations.
03 Apr 2017
How India is bouncing (cash)back
Sanjeev Bajaj | CEO ANZ India
Demonetisation has been the buzzword of India since the bulk of the country’s cash was removed from the economy at short notice. For many it was a shock to the system, with their economic lives grinding to a halt as the cash shortage disrupted their ability to pay, and also be paid.
31 Mar 2017
Five key habits of growing SMEs
Tania Motton | ANZ General Manager, Business Banking Australia
Small businesses are not just the lifeblood of growth in Australia and most economies, delivering true innovation and higher employment, their experiences can offer lessons for businesses of all sizes.
30 Mar 2017
VIDEO: three big themes for capital markets in 2017
Darren Thomson | Contributing editor, BlueNotes
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.
28 Mar 2017
You can trust Trust is on the regulatory agenda
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
Lest anyone think the apparently newly found interest by banks and boards in trust and social licence is purely marketing rather than a recognition of its fundamental importance, they can be reassured banking regulators are deadly earnest.
27 Mar 2017
Taxing times for Australia, Indonesia and the world
Mark Lawson | Retired senior journalist
The challenge of companies and individuals shuffling income and assets between jurisdictions - a major issue in the ASEAN region - has come to the fore in both Australia and Indonesia.
21 Mar 2017
Harvest time for NZ forestry
Con Williams | Rural Economist NZ, ANZ
New Zealand’s forestry sector is experiencing a period of strong returns fuelled by a combination of steady Chinese demand, restrictions in export markets on native-forest harvesting, low shipping costs, a local building boom and a supportive NZ dollar.
21 Mar 2017
Social issues are shareholder issues
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
There’s been polarised reaction in some quarters of Australia to a letter signed by 30 major business figures in support of marriage equality.
17 Mar 2017
INFOGRAPHIC: what banks will do next
Tim Dring | Oceania Banking & Capital Markets leader, EY
It’s an uncertain time for business around the world and banks are no exception. Profitability has been squeezed as global economic growth weakens and political uncertainty reigns. But uncertainty cannot be an excuse for inaction.
06 Mar 2017
What makes a city great?
Jean-Paul Pelosi | Freelance journalist
The world is preoccupied with rating the city. From the towering skyscrapers of New York to Tokyo’s colourful neon and Melbourne's amiable public spaces, it seems there’s a way to grade every aspect of the modern metropolis.
28 Feb 2017
Who turned out the lights on Australia’s energy certainty?
Craig Shortus | Head of Utilities & Infrastructure, ANZ
February’s heatwave in eastern Australia raised more questions about the country’s energy mix and stability. South Australia’s (SA) power system spent more than 30 minutes in an insecure operating state, leaving more than 90,000 residents without power as temperatures reached 42 Celsius.
28 Feb 2017
When BAU is the enemy
Lara Douglas | Senior Manager Risk Measurement, ANZ
Outside of my day job at ANZ I mentor university students completing their Business Practicum Projects at Melbourne University.
28 Feb 2017
It’s banking, Jim – but not as we know it
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
Trust is the word of the moment in banking: can customers trust banks? Can society? But banking has always been fundamentally a trust business: when neither borrowers nor lenders know one another well enough, they trust a bank to act as an intermediary.
21 Feb 2017
What ever happened to the Christmas spending spike?
Mike Ebstein | Director, MWE Consulting
Australian retailers and merchants in general used to rely on a significant lift in turnover from November to December.
08 Feb 2017
Trump: an easier life for banks?
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
Bank stocks in the US – and particularly investment banks – rallied sharply in early February as US President Donald Trump indicated he would push ahead with unwinding some regulation brought in after the financial crisis.
02 Feb 2017
What's behind the Bank of Japan's Jedi mind trick? Less than nothing?
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
Japan's startling move to negative interest rates over the weekend again focusses attention on the limitations of monetary policy in combating an economic downturn.
30 Jan 2017
From the back of a garage to the top of NZ retail
Angela Barnett | BlueNotes contributing editor
When Shijin (Sking) Zeng, founder of one of Auckland’s largest online shops iFurniture, decided to move to New Zealand he dreamed of setting up his own business.
24 Jan 2017
LONGREAD: Is 2017 the end of banking?
Alex Kewley | Director, Client Insights & Solutions, ANZ
It makes for great clickbait but 2017 will not be the 'end of banking'. It will, however, be another year of significant transformation.
24 Jan 2017
What the end of the TPP means (for Australia and the world)
Tony Walker | Author and Former Editor
If Australian policymakers had any doubt a Donald Trump presidency in the US would represent a disruption to business-as-usual in the White House that will have been dispelled by one of his first executive acts.
23 Jan 2017
The secret ingredient to hospitality success
Michelle Duff | Contributing editor, BlueNotes
Success in hospitality is hard, but the right kind of approach can return a hearty serving of returns.
19 Jan 2017
How to get the best value out of business travel
Darrin Grafton | CEO, Serko
If you own or manage a small business there's a good chance you travel - and it's quite possible you travel a lot. But how do you make sure you're getting real value for your travel spend and how do you make your travel budget go further?
17 Jan 2017
INFOGRAPHIC: How you spent Christmas 2016
Kath Bray | Managing Director Products, ANZ
The holiday period has always been about relaxing and spending time with family, but is increasingly becoming more about one thing: spending.
12 Jan 2017
Five keys to succeeding in the new China
Nick Henderson | Director, Asialink Business’ China Practice
Building strong relationships and being adaptable are vital for anyone hoping to break into China’s ever-changing business environment. But it’s easy to dismiss these features as abstract and intangible.
10 Jan 2017
Deadly Ponies making luxury handbags in NZ
Michelle Duff | Contributing editor, BlueNotes
Liam Bowden, who began luxury fashion brand Deadly Ponies while studying at university, has never been a stranger to hard work. By the age of 14, the entrepreneurial Aucklander was holding down three jobs in merchandising and sales, a trend that would continue into his adult life.
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.
19 Dec 2016
VIDEO: bricks are back in retail
Briar McCormack | bluenotes contributor
Consumer insights are telling a story retailers can’t ignore: bricks are back.
16 Dec 2016
Maserati, lobster and a window into China
Simone Stella | bluenotes contributor
What do a Maserati and a lobster have in common? They’re often red? Luxurious? Pricey?
13 Dec 2016
The new crop of NZ cropping success
Angela Barnett | BlueNotes contributing editor
A Taihape farm in the heart of sheep and beef country is an unusual place to start cultivating and harvesting a 4000-year-old grain. But that’s exactly what Dan and Jacqui Cottrell started doing on the family farm.
13 Dec 2016
Phi, Friedman and the purpose of business
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
Trust, purpose, social licence, corporate responsibility - no matter which business or political forum you attend, these themes are likely to be aired, if not formally then in discussions before and after.
12 Dec 2016
A new paradigm of synthetic food
Con Williams | Rural Economist NZ, ANZ
Technological disruption comes for all in the end and a new wave has appeared on the horizon for the food and beverage sector. It’s synthetic food which is promising to completely transform the production of food – even though there is a way to go.
08 Dec 2016
Five ways to lead a business in the 21st century
Tim Nelson | Managing Director, Korn Ferry Hay Group
Our workplaces are being disrupted at an unprecedented pace and keeping on top of trends is a non-negotiable part of 21st century management for leaders.
07 Dec 2016
The benefits of being good
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
Come the end-of-year festive break and the attention of senior bank executives, particularly in finance and compliance, shifts to the Swiss town of Basel and its population of regulatory gnomes who in recent years have delivered surprise presents at this time.
05 Dec 2016
Black swans, fat tails and running out of cash
Shailesh Venkatesh | Associate Director, Global Products, ANZ
The shocks of the US election, the Brexit vote – even India’s decision to eliminate high-value currency notes – are all stark reminders companies should prepare for the unexpected.
22 Nov 2016
See-through clothing: the dawn of price transparency
James Stewart | Partner and retail practice leader, Ferrier Hodgson
Digital-first and socially responsible retailers are driving a shift in customers’ expectations based on price and product-sourcing transparency.
14 Nov 2016
Luck of the lobster in NZ
Sophie Speer | BlueNotes contributing editor
Koura, also known as crayfish or rock lobster, is big business for Ngati Kahungunu. For the past decade, Kahungunu has leased its crayfish quota to Fiordland Lobster Company, the largest and most-profitable live lobster export company in Australasia.
10 Nov 2016
Staying aloft: culture vs policy
Rob Molyneux & Mark Linter | Group General Manager Risk Metrics & Risk Control and Policy Specialist, ANZ
Airlines are naturally and understandably risk averse but this doesn’t translate to more complicated risk frameworks and processes. Their approach is simpler than that. Are there lessons for banks?
09 Nov 2016
Aus bank results: lots of paddling below the water line against strong currents.
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
The headline outcomes from the latest major bank profit reporting season (picking up Commonwealth Bank’s June year) were stark:
02 Nov 2016
Kiwis milking the tourism boom (as well as cows)
Sharon Zollner | Associate Director & Senior Economist NZ, ANZ
For some time now New Zealand has ridden on the Friesian’s back as the country’s dairy industry helped the nation prosper. Now, for the first time in over five years, tourism has taken back the mantle as the country’s biggest export sector.
26 Oct 2016
Is Australia ripe for shareholder activism?
Jeremy Leibler | Partner, Arnold Bloch Leibler
Shareholder activism exists in Australia but targets, particularly successful ones, are not often large. The relatively low public awareness of such activism is probably best explained by the finding 85 per cent of companies targeted by activists since 2013 had a market capitalisation of less than $A331 million.
18 Oct 2016
Keeping payments accessible for all
Kath Bray & Steve Price | Managing Director Products & Senior Manager Everyday Banking, ANZ
The pace of change in the rapidly evolving payments space is news to no one. As the world moves closer to becoming cashless and disruptors offer an increasingly wide number of payment options, the old ways of buying are losing relevance.
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
A women’s revolution of doing
Grace Lever | Entrepreneur & Winner, 2016 Telstra Women's Business Award
Entrepreneurs in Australia are twice as likely to be male than female. The number of female business founders is increasing but women are still underrepresented.
18 Oct 2016
The procedural challenges in managing reputation risk
Andrew Cornell | 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
What agribiz needs to learn from mining
Kerryl Bradshaw | WA Branch Manager, Advisian
Whether the percentage of foreign ownership revealed in the Register of Foreign Ownership of Agricultural Land is too high or too low depends on your point of view. Emotions run high around land ownership – inevitably, it evokes primal food security concerns.
13 Oct 2016
Are banks still relevant?
Rob Colwell | Banking Customer Leader, EY Oceania
Banks have traditionally played an important part in people’s lives. But it’s clear the financial services landscape is changing rapidly, with customers able to access an ever-increasing number of alternative options to manage their financial needs.
06 Oct 2016
Five tips for SMEs to prepare for the peak retail season
Kate Gibson | General Manager Small Business Banking Australia, ANZ
With consumer spending, consumer confidence and business confidence all increasing in Australia, the stage is set for a profitable period for small to medium enterprises over the peak-retail festive season.
27 Sep 2016
Is responsible mining the answer to the commodities downturn?
Dr Sara Bice | Professor, University Melbourne School of Government
Mining giant BHP Billiton announced the largest loss in its history in August. The $US6.4 billion decline came on the back of declining commodity prices, falling Chinese demand for iron ore and $US2.2 billion in after-tax costs. The financial figures are alarming.
27 Sep 2016
From mutton to lamb: the outlook to 2040
Mark Bennett | Head of Australian Agribusiness, ANZ
It would be an understatement to say the Australian sheep industry has been through some tough times since the 1990s. Today, the sector is back on its feet and times ahead look even better, with a new report forecasting a surge in demand for lamb over the coming decades.
20 Sep 2016
The differing outlooks for NZ agriculture
Con Williams | Rural Economist NZ, ANZ
The diverging outlook across key agricultural sectors in New Zealand is expected to continue as a variety of conflicting forces shape the outlook. As the 2017 fiscal year heats up there will be challenges and opportunities across the agri scene.
13 Sep 2016
In vino veritas (and profits) in NZ
Con Williams | Rural Economist NZ, ANZ
Is there further upside for New Zealand’s booming wine sector? The answer is yes. An export industry which has experienced strong growth in recent years, NZ viticulture has played an important role in providing a new source of grow for the country’s agribusiness sector.
09 Sep 2016
The growth challenge and potential of regional Australia
Christine Linden | General Manager, Regional Business Banking, ANZ Australia
The economic, demographic and environmental challenges in regional Australia are real but so too are the opportunities. The strengths in regional communities and businesses provide the foundation to unlocking their growth potential.
06 Sep 2016
The cost of misconduct
Andrew Cornell | 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.
02 Sep 2016
LONGREAD: How banks really work
Harrison Young | Banker, company director & novelist
My great grandfather was a banker in Brookings, South Dakota – a town built around a rail junction deep in farm country. His name was John David Wilson but everyone called him ‘JD’.
31 Aug 2016
Where really is the value in ‘services’?
Robyn Haydon | Author and consultant
Services are the building blocks of getting things done. They're part of making products; making buildings, bridges and rockets to Mars; and of making lives better in the community.
30 Aug 2016
Can you trust the future of banking?
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
What finally sees off an ageing, ailing business model is not always the most obvious threat. In journalism, for example, the end of print newspapers may not come just because Facebook or the iPhone are now what is read on trains.
26 Aug 2016
UNDERBELLY
Rod Clement | Walkley Award-winning cartoonist
Award-winning Illustrator Rod Clement shares his uniquely quirky take on the corporate world. This week: #winterofdiscontent.
25 Aug 2016
Keep your non-polyester shirt on: the strong outlook for cotton
Mark Bennett | Head of Australian Agribusiness, ANZ
Like the shirt on a farmer’s back, the cotton industry is tight. It’s an industry with its act together, with collaboration and connections all the way from industry leadership to the integration of production, ginning and marketing.
23 Aug 2016
The shadows are lengthening in the financial sector
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
The global financial crisis is still with us. Its onset was unpredicted, its ramifications unpredictable. But at its heart was what otherwise discredited former American Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld termed “unknown unknowns”.
19 Aug 2016
Hatching new SME concepts in Beijing
Guy Thompson | BlueNotes contributing editor
The Hatchery is a start-up incubator with a difference. Based in Beijing, the founders have taken their experience with restaurants and pop-up concept stores and created an incubator space where local and international restaurant entrepreneurs can test their menus.
19 Aug 2016
CEOs, le Tour de France and the success of marginal gains
Tania Motton | ANZ General Manager, Business Banking Australia
Every little bit counts. This theory applies in business as much as it does in sport. And it’s one helping the CEOs of small-to-medium companies grow their businesses one step at a time.
16 Aug 2016
Something’s brewing in NZ’s craft beer market
Pete Barnao & Linda Townshend | BlueNotes contributing editors
The first-time Beervana pilgrim gazed around the concourse apprehensively then voiced what many were surely thinking: “Where do I start?”
11 Aug 2016
IN PICTURES: One family, one farm and 150 years
Sarah-Jane Bashford & Marise Hurley | BlueNotes contributing editors
It’s a rare and remarkable thing - a farming family who can claim a century on their farm thanks to an ancestor who also played a major role in developing what is now New Zealand’s largest bank.
11 Aug 2016
Is long-term sustainable value a reality or myth?
John McFarlane | Chairman, Barclays Bank & TheCityUk
Shareholders are meant to focus on creating long-term value but is this possible in an environment which measures returns daily and where analyst reports focus on this and next year’s outcomes? Similarly, public companies aim to deliver superior medium-term results but are measured quarterly.
09 Aug 2016
Is there a limit to the battle between borrowers and depositors?
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
As interest rates fall around the world to historic, even negative, levels, both public and technical debates are alive about the implications for banks.
08 Aug 2016
VIDEO: Needless secrecy and the joint fight against corruption
Shane White | Senior production editor, bluenotes
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.
08 Aug 2016
Why mobile is the remote control of our lives (and other marketing lessons from MIT)
Carolyn Bendall | Head of Marketing Australia, ANZ
What does the digital transformation of a traditional company like a bank mean for marketing? After all, marketing is not a core banking platform. It’s not payments or lending facing the threat of Bitcoin or peer-to-peer lending.
05 Aug 2016
Five things big businesses could learn from their smaller counterparts
Keren Roberts | General Manager Shared Services New Zealand, ANZ
Small businesses are vital to all economies, providing unique products and experiences for customers whether in big-city alleyways, corner stores or regional communities.
05 Aug 2016
UNDERBELLY
Rod Clement | Walkley Award-winning cartoonist
Award-winning Illustrator Rod Clement shares his uniquely quirky take on the corporate world. This week: close encounters.
02 Aug 2016
Our future: data in Australia
Dr Martin Joy | Senior Manager Public Policy, ANZ
Data sits at the core of banking. From customer insights to risk management, it helps banks understand what customers want and how they can meet demand effectively. Further, customers can benefit from access to data concerning them.
25 Jul 2016
VIDEO: SMEs understand purpose better than big biz
Carina Parisella | Senior Manager Strategic Engagement, ANZ
Smaller organisations are faster and more successful at identifying the core purpose of their business compared with larger counterparts, according to one of Australia’s leading executive coaches.
25 Jul 2016
Two burglaries, two engineering students and one competition
Julia de Blaauw | BlueNotes contributing editor
Not many people can say their business took flight after their house was burgled. But that’s how ‘The Hatch’ was born, says University of Canterbury Engineering graduate and Wireless Guard CEO Taylor Howatson.
14 Jul 2016
Three key ingredients in growing the food bowl
Stuart Hancock | Head of Regional Business Banking NSW, ANZ
Australia's innovation and productivity in agriculture already leads the world in many aspects. But how do we better commercialise this expertise and transform agriculture into a major export industry for the country?
12 Jul 2016
VCs: No need to be pitch perfect with your start-up
Gabrielle Mitchell | BlueNotes contributing editor
What makes venture capitalists (VCs) see great potential in a start-up? Is there such a thing as the perfect pitch? And what does the innovation boom mean for small businesses?
12 Jul 2016
Nine out of ten people will do the right thing (and click this story)
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
How do you convince fiscal miscreants to pay their taxes on time? Simply tell them everyone else is doing it, it turns out. Behavioural economics does the rest for you.
05 Jul 2016
Bank investment with Clint Eastwood
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
No doubt it’s familiar to all but in the climactic showdown in Sergio Leone’s epic Western The Good, The Bad and The Ugly the three protagonists confront one another. A classic stand-off, in a cemetery no less, beloved of game theorists, the winner getting the money and the losers ending up, well, six-feetunder.
01 Jul 2016
How your business should react to Brexit
Frank Castiglia | Partner, Baker & McKenzie
Brexit will have significant implications for businesses in the UK and the EU – but also for businesses in countries, such as Australia with trade or investment arrangements in both regions.
29 Jun 2016
Brexit may be good for Australian farmers
Mark Bennett | Head of Australian Agribusiness, ANZ
Brexit has a long way to run but from an Australian agricultural perspective there’s cause for some optimism alongside the strong case for caution – while we wait for the prevailing volatility to dissipate in favour of a truer political and economic picture.
28 Jun 2016
Who should take responsibility for our savings?
Tareq Muhmood | CEO Korea & Managing Director Global Subsidiaries, ANZ
Ever since the financial crisis in 2008, I have been troubled by elements of the banking industry and the ongoing debates around 'too big to fail' and moral hazard. The cost of the bailout continues to hang over the economy and impact broader society.
27 Jun 2016
Australian lamb: back on the sheep’s back?
Andrew Roseby | Agribusiness regional executive, ANZ
In the 1950s, Australia’s prolific global reputation as a world-class wool producer united a country and we rode on the sheep’s back into post-war economic prosperity.
27 Jun 2016
Only 20% of CEOs have a clear plan to grow their business
Mark Hand | Managing Director Corporate & Commercial Banking, ANZ
Sustainable growth is the goal of almost all of Australia’s small and medium businesses. Simple in theory. But hard in practice.
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.
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.
30 May 2016
Do taxpayers subsidise the banks?
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
That ratings agencies like Standard & Poor’s build an ‘implicit government guarantee’ into their ratings of the major Australian banks is not a surprise. It’s long been the case.
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.
23 May 2016
The psychology of growing old (and paying for it)
Milena Malev | Senior Manager Business Model Design, ANZ
We don’t like to think about growing old. We like to think we can outrun the future, so we watch our diet and exercise to keep ourselves young and healthy. Thanks to modern medicine we now live longer than ever. Before we know it, the years we spend in retirement will match our time in the workforce. Imagine that!
20 May 2016
The short and long-term outlook for Australian dairy
Christine Linden | General Manager, Regional Business Banking, ANZ Australia
Agriculture has long been a critical sector in Australia both economically and socially, and its success has played a important role in the country’s prosperity. But farming can be a tough industry to be in, with cyclical market conditions creating forces difficult to endure.
10 May 2016
Have banks misjudged the credit cycle?
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
Credit quality, unsurprisingly, was the major focus of investors and analysts with the Australian bank interim results and trading updates.
06 May 2016
The boom within a boom: Chinese cross-border e-commerce
Casey Hall | Former Asian editor, WSJ, NT, CNN
China’s consumer economy is booming. So too, despite the well-publicised restrictions on content and channels, is the online economy. Now add ‘foreign goods’ to the fuel because cross border e-commerce is a boom within a boom – to the extent the government has just introduced some new controls on commerce.
03 May 2016
Whelan: very tough conditions but refocus already showing results
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
ANZ’s institutional business dragged back stronger earnings from other divisions in the bank but division boss Mark Whelan said the bank was already well advanced in reshaping the business with early returns promising.
03 May 2016
Core ANZ business remains strong; restructuring for sustainable earnings: Elliott
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
ANZ chief executive Shayne Elliott says the bank is making some hard decisions to reposition itself for the future after posting a fall in interim cash earnings but he stressed the bank’s core businesses remain strong.
02 May 2016
Five tips for nailing your performance review
Anna Corr | Head of Research & Analysis Australia, ANZ
For some they are occasions for dread, while for others they are a chance to get recognition for a year of hard work. Wherever you sit, and even with the running debate on their place, performance reviews (PMRs) are an ingrained part of the culture of companies. They can shape your future at an organisation.
02 May 2016
You wouldn’t meet about it
Leo D'Angelo Fisher | Freelance journalist
Call someone during the day and there’s every chance you will be told they are in a meeting. Look around at work and almost certainly someone, a pile of papers under-arm, will be breathlessly rushing to their next meeting.
27 Apr 2016
The moving parts of Australian bank wholesale funding costs
Philip Bayley | Industry Fellow, Monash University
The cost of debt raised by Australian banks in wholesale funding markets has been steadily rising over the last 12 months but the trend has only achieved prominence since the beginning of 2016, particularly as banks have made some so-called ‘out-of-cycle’ rate.
21 Apr 2016
Greater confidence in banks helps everyone: Ohlsson
Andrew Cornell | 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.
19 Apr 2016
When banks lose the will to live
Andrew Cornell | 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.
23 Mar 2016
The growing green bond opportunity in Australia
Katharine Tapley & Catherine Bremner | Head of Sustainable Finance Solutions & Former Head of Sustainable Finance Solutions, ANZ
This story is an edited version of a workshop delivered by Katharine and Catherine at the ANZ Global Capital Markets Corporate Debt Conference in 2016.
21 Mar 2016
The mystery of the missing $A100 note
Steve Worthington | Professor at Swinburne University
According to some of the world's central bankers, 'big noting' describes more than just the boastfulness of some individuals. It's a global currency trend.
15 Mar 2016
How FTAs have made (and will continue to make) Australia stronger
Justin Brown | Acting Deputy Secretary, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Australia's economy is the 12th largest in the world. Our economy is rated AAA by all three global rating agencies and, while the global economic outlook is uncertain, between 2016 and 2020, average annual real GDP growth is forecast at nearly 3 per cent.
03 Mar 2016
Investment pours into FDA across APAC
Rob Locke | Fraud Investigation & Dispute Services and Managing Partner, EY Oceania
It's literally every day a new data breach or cyber crime or regulatory order flashes across news screens and alerts. And boards are taking notice.
02 Mar 2016
The five meatiest grains themes for 2016
Mark Bennett | Head of Australian Agribusiness, ANZ
Australia's grains industry is fundamental to the agribusiness sector. Not only does it create value in its own right but supports revenue growth in domestic and export markets across Australian agribusiness.
01 Mar 2016
Start-ups: debt vs equity vs other (or of all of the above)
Kate Gibson | General Manager Small Business Banking Australia, ANZ
More than two thirds of Australia's start-ups believe they need funding to survive through 2016, according to the StartUp Muster Report 2015. Plenty of existing small businesses are also on the lookout.
29 Feb 2016
The times they are a-changing
Stefan Herrick | Senior Manager External Communications New Zealand, ANZ
Long dominated by big brands from Switzerland and Japan, the watch establishment is being challenged by a new type of competitor – one made possible by the internet.
22 Feb 2016
Is the iron ore rally a false dawn?
Clyde Russell & Paul Bartholomew | Asia Commodities and Energy Columnist, Thomson Reuters & Senior Managing Editor, Platts
Iron ore, such a significant part of the Asia's Pacific's economy, has rallied over 20 per cent since December lows. So has it really turned the corner? We present insights from two of the region's most-respected experts.
18 Feb 2016
Is new regulation a cash management trust bust?
Matthew Byrne | Associate Director Superannuation & Funds, ANZ
Cash management trusts (CMTs) have for decades been a stalwart of the Australian investment landscape. Offering better returns than bank balances, they still had the security of cash.
16 Feb 2016
What's wrong with banks?
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
Bank shares, globally, have borne the brunt of the new year sell-off on equity markets. It's not good news and not just for those owning bank shares.
01 Feb 2016
Has cash done its dash?
Steve Worthington | Professor at Swinburne University
Decades after the paperless office was first mooted and financial institutions started to talk about the end of cash, both paper and hard currency are still with us.
27 Jan 2016
Bank funding: costs rising at the critical short end
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
Market volatility, concerns about major economies and the flow on for credit quality have been pushing up market interest rates and the funding costs for the global banking sector.
27 Jan 2016
What big business can learn from startups
Matt Boss & Jane Martino | Former Managing Director Products and Marketing, ANZ & CEO, Shout for Good
Persistence, positivity and resilience are all successful attitudes big business can borrow from startups, along with jettisoning a fear of failure according to Jane Martino, Shout founder and head of ANZ Wealth division's social segment.
27 Jan 2016
Why more RMB looks Hong Kong bound
Chaw Ming Quek | Former Head of Transaction Banking Hong Kong, ANZ
The Chinese central bank's recent actions have sent a strong message to those looking to short sell the Chinese currency: don't.
19 Jan 2016
Simple corporate bonds: an insider's perspective
Sophie Wilson | Former Associate Director, Equity Capital Markets
Last year Australian Unity became the first Australian business to launch a bond under new federal government simple corporate bond (SCB) legislation introduced in September 2014, aimed at cutting red tape around raising debt.
19 Jan 2016
Fintech surges - to tiny shares
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
Even as global equity markets have plumbed depths not seen since the financial crisis, investor appetite for start-ups, particularly in the financial technology – 'fintech' – space has remained near insatiable.
15 Jan 2016
The many reasons you should clean up your desk at work
Paul G Edwards | Publisher, BlueNotes
We know at BlueNotes – courtesy of our most-read story –the tie or no tie with business suit debate is a hostile one. But we've found another: desk management. Our publisher, Paul Edwards, was so stunned by the state of the desk of our managing editor, Andrew Cornell, he tweeted a pic of it.
15 Jan 2016
Long live the messy desk?
Leo D'Angelo Fisher | Freelance journalist
We know at BlueNotes – courtesy of our most-read story –the tie or no tie with business suit debate is a hostile one. But we've found another: desk management. Our publisher, Paul Edwards, was so stunned by the state of the desk of our managing editor, Andrew Cornell, he tweeted a pic of it.
13 Jan 2016
How lenders can win the main-bank war
Alan Shields | Managing Director, Research and Advisory, RFi
The fight over 'main-bank' customers is heating up as lenders try to eke out every possible advantage over their rivals. Now the battleground is clearer: statistics show if a bank can acquire and retain customers in their mid-20s and 30s it will undoubtedly win the main-bank war.
06 Jan 2016
How to prepare for succession in a family business
Mike Norfolk | Head of Private Banking Australia, ANZ
Spending a lifetime on a business, especially one you have established, built up and successfully run is an enormous achievement. It takes passion, commitment and resilience. So it is understandable when the time comes to step away it is a life-changing experience.
23 Dec 2015
Five ways banking of the future will really differ
Peter Dalton | Group General Manager Innovation, ANZ
As digital technologies continue to reshape financial services, the question of how banks will operate in the future is a hot topic - but, like all crystal ball gazing, it's terribly difficult to get right. There are so many outlets making predictions these days it's inevitable a lot will be off the mark.
15 Dec 2015
Banking in 2016 – Where are the risks?
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
There aren't many bank stock bulls among global investors. Understandable given global growth is still limp, geopolitical risk high, regulation uncertain and disruption on everyone's mind.
09 Dec 2015
Smith: GFC helped ANZ in Asia
Ian Rogers | Editor, Banking Day
The global financial crisis, which placed enormous pressure on banks around the world, provided an opportunity for ANZ to expand its presence in Asia faster than departing CEO Mike Smith thought was possible at the time, he says.
09 Dec 2015
How risk at ANZ has changed: Mike Smith
Ian Rogers | Editor, Banking Day
Departing ANZ CEO Mike Smith says attitudes toward risk at ANZ have changed significantly in his time at the bank.
08 Dec 2015
Bank margins at the margin in Asia and Australia
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
As a cadet finance reporter, every time I rang a broker about the stock market I had to steel myself for the wonderful insight “the market went up/down because there were more/less buyers than sellers”.
02 Dec 2015
Understanding Australia's risk culture – or lack thereof
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
An enduring theme in corporate Australia, picked up by a new prime minister, is concern around a lack of innovation, often sheeted back to a lack of risk appetite.
30 Nov 2015
Profiting from trust
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
Where are the big risks for banks in 2016? ANZ Lending Services, which deals closely with the insolvency and risk management sector, last week rounded up a dozen or so specialists and asked them this question.
27 Nov 2015
RMB reserves place among the elite
Daniel Everett | Global Head RMB Strategy & Execution, ANZ
It now appears inevitable China's currency the renminbi (RMB) will be included in the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Special Drawing Rights (SDR) basket when the IMF Executive Board meets next week.
17 Nov 2015
How much will the kitchen sink your renovation budget?
Chris Kelly | Award winning artist
The cost of renovating a house spiked through 2015 as owners took advantage of a roaring market in order to lift the value of their home.
17 Nov 2015
The climate challenge of lending "over the horizon"
Andrew Cornell | 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.
16 Nov 2015
Popping the payment fraud balloon
Lance Blockley | Managing Director Consulting, RFi Group
Payment fraud is a balloon: squeeze it in one place and it will pop out in another. This effect is readily seen in card payments. As lawmakers have attacked fraud at the physical point of sale fraudsters have moved to the historically less-secure online environment...
12 Nov 2015
Is surcharge rage justified?
Steve Worthington | Professor at Swinburne University
With more than 5,000 of the 6,500 final submissions to the Australian Financial System Inquiry (FSI) concentrating on the topic, it was no surprise the Australian Government announced in October it would examine excessive credit card surcharges.
10 Nov 2015
Full capacity at the regulation factories
Andrew Cornell | 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.
04 Nov 2015
Are banks too profitable
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
The Financial Times' highly respected Lex column has delivered a slap to (northern hemisphere) bank executives, telling them to stop making promises they never keep.
04 Nov 2015
Three massive trends reshaping the auto industry
Alex Kewley & Mark Cherry | Director Client Insights and Solutions & Head of Global Diversified Industries
The automotive industry is undergoing seismic change with fundamental shifts in the way people use vehicles, while Asia continues to grow as the leading market globally.
30 Oct 2015
The key to trade finance in Asia
Martin Smith | Head of Markets Analysis, East & Partners
The past is no guide to the future for Australian companies looking to succeed in lucrative Asian markets - particularly in building a sustainable competitive advantage. The expectations of Australian and Asian chief financial officers are actually quite different.
28 Oct 2015
Six trends shaking up transaction banking
Carole Berndt | Former Head of Global Transaction Banking, ANZ
SIBOS, the Swift International Banking Operations Seminar, one of the largest annual conference and networking events for the financial industry has recently wrapped in Singapore, the first time the event has been held in Asia for six years.
27 Oct 2015
Cultivating risk
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
The first law of thermodynamics is energy cannot be created or destroyed, just transformed from one state to another. That pretty much sums up the first law of risk as well.
22 Oct 2015
Reputation the next business battleground
Lee White | CEO, Chartered Accountants ANZ
Australia and New Zealand, once considered shining lights when it comes to corruption, are starting to dim.
22 Oct 2015
Who watches the cyber watchmen?
Bruce Hassall | CEO, PwC New Zealand
Leaps in technologies hold great promise for contending with seemingly intractable cyber threats. Yet the spotlight on technological advances can dim the focus on the roles, competencies and training of people—often an over looked although very effective defence. We're seeing this start to change.
20 Oct 2015
Leverage, risk, culture and Australian bank capital
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
Westpac Banking Corp's decision to raise $A3.5 billion in new capital immediately raised investor questions about a new round of equity raisings even though the other three Australian majors had already raised comparable amounts.
12 Oct 2015
This Key may be hard to copy
Bernard Hickey | Publisher at Hive News
Everyone loves – and would love to copy – a winner.
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
The role of banks as the climate changes
Christina Tonkin | Managing Director Loans & Specialised Finance, ANZ
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?
16 Sep 2015
Does Australia need an institutional debt market?
Martin Irwin | Partner, Baker & McKenzie
The infrastructure debt market in Australia has been, since the global financial crisis, overwhelmingly led by the big four Australian banks together with significant capital from the Japanese and Chinese mega banks. But the demand for funds continues to grow unabated. Does Australia need an institutional debt market?
15 Sep 2015
Have crims developed a social conscience with tap'n'go?
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
The mass theft of payment card data aside, the biggest payments scam going in the United States at the moment is petrol theft – even as the cost of fuel falls.
15 Sep 2015
NZ's next billion dollar industry
Pete Barnao | BlueNotes contributing editor
In a sheltered bay in the spectacular Marlborough Sounds at the northern end of New Zealand's South Island you can see a glimpse of hidden treasure. Bobbing gently not far from the passing ferries to Wellington, to the untrained eye they're nondescript rows of floating buoys.
02 Sep 2015
Murray Inquiry member welcomes decision on bank deposit levy
Kevin Davis | Research Director, Australian Centre for Financial Studies & Member, Financial System (Murray) Inquiry
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.
01 Sep 2015
Triple bottom line: credit, market and op risk in ignoring the environment
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
Coca-Cola apparently has a “global water steward”. His name is Greg Koch and his full title is “Senior Director of Global Water Stewardship”.
21 Aug 2015
NZ's craft brewers go froth and multiply
Pete Barnao | BlueNotes contributing editor
Something special is brewing in New Zealand's craft beer industry. Demand for distinctive, quality beer is bubbling over at home but also growing abroad at a rate unimaginable a few years ago.
10 Aug 2015
Wrong way, go back: Australia's transport sector
Angelo Manos & Glenn Jennings | General Manager EC and Property, ANZ & Associate Director, Client Insights & Solutions, ANZ
Specialise or perish. That's been the message from industry commentators since the economic downturn on how to survive in Australia's notoriously competitive road transport sector. But a look at the data shows the cost of transforming business models can outweigh the benefits and some operators in the industry may have taken a wrong turn.
06 Aug 2015
The other way to go gold
Eddie Listorti | Former Global Co-Head of FICC FC, ANZ
Of all the precious metals, gold has been the most popular investment choice for hundreds of years. Albeit one not immune to volatility and large price swings - which we've been reminded of lately.
30 Jul 2015
Why business cards have survived against all odds
James Rose | Freelance journalist, Newsmodo
Recently three of Steve Jobs' old business cards were sold for $US10,500. Ironically this happened as Apple spearheads a push towards the use of e-cards which could effectively make hard-copy business cards obsolete.
27 Jul 2015
The changes Australian agriculture needs
Mark Bennett | Head of Australian Agribusiness, ANZ
Australia's agricultural sector faces the pressure of expectation as mining investment winds down and the country looks north to Asia's growing demand to provide the next great boom.
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
NZ's backyard roadblock
Bernard Hickey | Publisher at Hive News
Suddenly it seems everyone in New Zealand economic and political life is an expert on Auckland town planning, blaming it for all matter of ills ranging from high interest rates to housing unaffordability to financial instability and even child poverty.
21 Jul 2015
Australia's venture capital drought
Ivor Ries | Guest columnist; Senior analyst, Morgans Financial Ltd
Although Australians pride themselves on being innovative and able to adapt to new circumstances, the reality is our economy and political processes are slow to adapt to new realities.
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.
16 Jul 2015
How the digitisation of trade finance is rocking the boat for banks
Hari Janakiraman | Head of Core Trade, ANZ
Innovation is changing the face of banking, from online retail transactions to million-dollar iron ore deals.
15 Jul 2015
Australia's budding green bonds
Oliver Yates | CEO, Clean Energy Finance Corporation
Australian energy is slowly going green. More than 30 new renewable energy plants will begin operating across Australia within the next five years and Australia's fast-growing green bond market – and thousands of superannuants – are likely to be behind the investment helping to build this new capacity.
14 Jul 2015
APRA to banks: be chaste but not yet
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
Two things are clear about the future capital requirements for Australian banks following Monday's international capital comparison study by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority.
08 Jul 2015
The sweet meat of the TPP
Andrew Geczy | Former CEO International and Institutional Banking, ANZ
The ambitious Trans Pacific-Partnership (TPP) is a step closer after Barack Obama secured US House of Representatives approval for the Trade Adjustment Assistance legislation which offers aid and training to US workers impacted by the trade deal.
08 Jul 2015
Three things keeping NZ SME owners up at night
Fred Ohlsson | Group Executive, ANZ Australia
Small business confidence in NZ remains high despite a pullback from record levels in the June quarter but a number of concerns for owners remain, ANZ NZ managing director of retail and business banking Fred Ohlsson says.
07 Jul 2015
Greece, China and the middle-income trap
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
For the Greeks, the most positive aspect of the referendum was its clear-cut outcome. For markets, the same can also be said.
06 Jul 2015
What to expect from the AIIB
Li-Gang Liu | Former Chief Economist Greater China, ANZ
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank passed another milestone in late June when 50 of its 57 founding members signed articles of agreement (AOA) for the institution. So now it is in operational mode, what can we expect from the AIIB?
02 Jul 2015
Three takeaways from the World Business Forum
Andrew Geczy | Former CEO International and Institutional Banking, ANZ
With six of the top 10 trading nations forecast to be Asian by 2020, it seemed only natural the region's leaders came together at the World Business Forum in Hong Kong in June to discuss the issues shaping the economic and business environments.
01 Jul 2015
What Greece's mire really means
Tom Kenny & Brian Martin | Senior International Economist & Head of Global Economics, ANZ
It's bleak times for Greece. The government has unilaterally broken off negotiations with its creditors and has missed its debt payment deadline to the International Monetary Fund.
01 Jul 2015
The future of free trade with Australia
Lisa McAuley | CEO, Export Council of Australia
When it comes to trade, the world is getting smaller. A spate of free trade deals between Australia and its Asian neighbours is linking economies and opening up avenues for commerce like never before and there's more action on the horizon.
29 Jun 2015
Intended, unintended and unexpected consequences of regulation
Andrew Cornell | 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.”
26 Jun 2015
How the buzzword virus is killing business
Jane Grace | BlueNotes contributing editor
I'm a socially awkward child. I'm sitting in the corner of the classroom drawing pictures in the back of my library book while my classmates play games outside and the school counsellor hovers in the doorway with a concerned look on her face.
25 Jun 2015
Digital customers need more than just digital
Stephen Karpin | Group Country Manager, Visa
Consumers, on average, unlock their mobile phone 110 times a day. You're likely to check your phone before you finish reading this article – if you're not already reading it on your mobile.
24 Jun 2015
Asia's little dragon has plenty of firepower
Stefan Herrick | Senior Manager External Communications New Zealand, ANZ
The relationship between the People's Republic of China and Taiwan, the Republic of China, is complex and difficult. But economically they are increasingly entwined and share many characteristics.
22 Jun 2015
Are credit cards a rip off right now?
Mike Ebstein | Director, MWE Consulting
In Australia, credit card holders are right now watching the cash rate hover at record lows, taking mortgage rates down with it. It's not something that's being reflected in their card rates. So why aren't these rates moving?
16 Jun 2015
Six ways to help save your SME from cybercrime
Christine Linden | General Manager, Regional Business Banking, ANZ Australia
It's easy to think cybercrime and identity theft only happens to big business. It doesn't. With over two million small businesses in Australia, lifting awareness, improving education and taking real action to prevent these incidents is fundamental for the health of the sector.
15 Jun 2015
A people strategy for the digital age
Bruce Hassall | CEO, PwC New Zealand
One of the biggest challenges for CEOs is making sure they have the right people to cope with the future – a near impossible feat for the rapidly changing digital age. Across the Asia Pacific, the speed of change is reshaping the way we live and work and business strategies are undergoing a fundamental re-think.
12 Jun 2015
How the banks will be made to hold more capital
Shayne Elliott | Chief Executive Officer, ANZ
The next step by Australian regulators to encourage banks to hold more capital is likely to come in the form of changes to mortgage risk weighting, according to ANZ's chief financial officer.
11 Jun 2015
The long arm of the bond sell off
Sean Keane | Founder & Managing Director, Triple T Consulting
The stabilisation in global bond markets has not been long lived with the selling of longer duration maturities resuming with some passion. Global markets are again being weighed upon by the poor performance of the European bond markets. The implications are wide – and stretch as far as Australian bank stocks.
09 Jun 2015
The rise and rise of the ETF
Danny Laidler | Former Head of ETFS & Distribution, ANZ
Australian investors are very fond of investing in domestic equity markets with overseas investments seen as expensive, confusing or simply too hard to access.
02 Jun 2015
Regulators want to regulate culture but who regulates culture for the non-regulated?
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
The issue of trust in banking has been headline news globally in recent months and particularly acute in Australia last week.
01 Jun 2015
Latin America key for Asia resources
Jose Blanco | Former Chief Executive, Banco Santander Australia
It seemed to take many by surprise during the recent fracas over iron ore pricing that China was negotiating directly with Brazilian iron ore giant Vale to build alternative supply. It shouldn't have. For a country like Australia which rightly sees itself as a part of the Asian century, the lack of insight around Latin America's role is a critical oversight.
29 May 2015
Three ways to help SMEs tap into Asia
Mark Whelan | Group Executive, Institutional at ANZ
The many markets of Asia offer incredible potential for growth but often Australian companies, especially small-to-medium businesses, don't know where to start. Industry, government and the finance sector can all play a role in helping shape this growth, provided we get the settings right and enable SMEs to feel confident they can expand.
25 May 2015
Why Australia's relationship with Indonesia is so important
Mike Smith | Former Chief Executive Officer, ANZ
We have just come through a particularly difficult period in Australia's relationship with Indonesia and I understand that the impact will last some time.
25 May 2015
Aussie beef - in a good paddock despite the challenges
Mark Bennett | Head of Australian Agribusiness, ANZ
The world wants to eat more. And there are more of us. Global population growth means the food revolution is underway.
13 May 2015
Big banks, big cases and big money
Bob Santamaria | Group General Counsel, ANZ
As Group General Counsel at one of Australia's big four banks, people occasionally ask me what keeps me awake at night. In my first five years at the bank, nearly all of the problems that landed on my desk came out of one specific arm. Now those cases are few and far between, while the spectre of class actions grows.
12 May 2015
Bank capital a focus but what about liquidity?
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
The focus during the Australian bank profit reporting season was, not unexpectedly, on capital. The amount needed, by when and for what.
06 May 2015
A deposit is no longer just a deposit
Phil Carmont & Kevin Wong | Head of Funds and Insurance & Insights Director, ANZ
At the start of this year, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) implemented its version of the Basel III short-term liquidity reforms. Aimed at ensuring banks hold greater amounts of highly liquid assets (that is, those that are or can quickly become cash) and reduce their reliance on short-term funding, the Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) framework tests the run-off characteristics of banks' funding liabilities over a 30-day stress period.
01 May 2015
Aus, NZ look to offshore M&A
Julie Hood | Managing Partner Transaction Advisory Services, Ernst & Young
A slowdown in domestic growth in Australia and New Zealand is contributing to an increased appetite for offshore merger and acquisition activity, according to new confidence data.
29 Apr 2015
Naked insight: business lessons from a Japanese bath house
Peter Hanami | Author & consultant
As a small-business owner, I have found business insights or 'light bulb' moments can arrive anytime: lining up at the supermarket check-out, driving and listening to the radio or – rewardingly - when you are experiencing something new for the first time.
28 Apr 2015
Five ways we can close the gender retirement funding gap
Ana-Marie Lockyer | General Manager Wealth Products and Marketing New Zealand, ANZ
While I was walking through the airport recently, a Time magazine cover shouting “This baby could live to 142 years" caught my eye. As a mother of three young girls it was a stark reminder of the challenges my daughters will face in building a financial future.
21 Apr 2015
Marching in step
Bernard Hickey | Publisher at Hive News
Australians and New Zealanders will be reminded of their shared histories in the deepest way ahead of the 100th anniversary of the landings at Gallipoli on April 25.
20 Apr 2015
Standardising risk or the risk of standardisation?
Brad Carr | Director, Institute of International Finance
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, the global regulator, has issued two documents for discussion on how banks’ capital requirements are calculated, Capital Floors: the Design of a Framework Based on Standardised Approaches and Revisions to the Standardised Approach for Credit Risk.
17 Apr 2015
The Mass Affluent: still desirable, still on the market
Maxim Sharshun | Former Engagement Manager, PwC Strategy
They are large, profitable and resilient. They hold a disproportionate share of the country's wealth and represent a substantial share of personal banking profits. Yet Australian banks can't seem to figure them out.
14 Apr 2015
Anti-corruption in the North but anti-growth in the South
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
In Asia, indeed in any of the markets where the financial crisis was a matter of contagion not primary infection, there's a prevailing view not all the doctor's orders are sensible.
14 Apr 2015
Four ways to safeguard business from financial crime
Mark Evans | Managing Director Transaction Banking, ANZ
Imagine being offered a job which promises excellent money in exchange for very little work. It sounds like a dream.
13 Apr 2015
A payments letter from America
Steve Worthington | Professor at Swinburne University
Having recently been in the United States of America for a month, I have been able to see first hand some of the effects of the polarisation of that society. It is obviously a social issue but it's also evident in payments.
10 Apr 2015
India: The Asia Pacific’s most aggressive spender
Jennifer Farmer | bluenotes production editor
Around the world chief financial officers are putting into place spending plans for 2015. In the Asia Pacific, companies in India lead the charge among major markets when it comes to a desire to invest.
08 Apr 2015
Interest rates, housing bubbles and macroprudential regulation: the Kiwis say it is All Black and white
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
The missives of central bankers around the world are now studied with the same sort of intensity medieval scholars devoted to understanding the ancient texts. The legion of mystic druids of financial markets study the entrails seeking guidance from the gods on what “normal” and “patient” might mean for interest rates.
01 Apr 2015
Why Asian hotel prices fell in 2014 when travel rose
Abhiram Chowdhry | Vice President Asia-Pacific, Hotels.com
A sharp rise in intra-Asian travel, spurred on by the rapid increase in low-cost carrier airlines and a burgeoning affluent class with a new-found love for travel, has encouraged an increase in the supply of hotel rooms in anticipation of a sustained future rise in demand.
26 Mar 2015
Can you trust your bank?
Lisa Henderson | Former Head of Corporate & Commercial Marketing, ANZ
Banks in Australia and New Zealand are back to delivering strong results for shareholders. For them, if not for the northern hemisphere, the acute disaster of the global financial crisis has passed.
13 Mar 2015
Foodie mums take slice of pie market
Pete Barnao | BlueNotes contributing editor
Absence makes the heart grow fonder. And the stomach. Maree Glading and Jessie Stanley returned to New Zealand from their big OE in the UK hankering for a good Kiwi steak and cheese pie.
10 Mar 2015
Climate change a financing challenge and becoming more complex
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
Anyone still in doubt about whether the world’s major economies are moving ahead with a price on carbon should pay attention to what is being said at China’s National People’s Congress where the political, social and economic priorities of the world’s next economic superpower are being laid out.
05 Mar 2015
Say goodbye to global banking behemoths?
Sally Reid | Global Head of Institutional Portfolio Management, ANZ
The global banking sector is facing unprecedented, inexorable pressure on margins as a result of sustained regulatory and competitive pressures – strongly amplified by global expansionary monetary policy from central banks.
04 Mar 2015
The recipe for an international restaurant business empire
Peter Wilmoth | Feature writer
In the tightly-controlled rhythm of lunch service at his restaurant glass brasserie in Sydney's Hilton Hotel, chef and entrepreneur Luke Mangan keeps an eye on how the intricate but hopefully almost invisible operation is unfolding.
03 Mar 2015
Too big to fail or too big to manage?
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
“Too big to fail” is the moral hazard conundrum at the centre of the debate about the future of financial services, anchoring issues such as how the sector should be structured, regulated, financed. More than two dozen global banking behemoths have been officially designated too-big-to-fail or in regulator-speak “globally systemically important banks”.
03 Mar 2015
Why aren't more Australian companies peering behind the bamboo curtain?
Shane White | Senior production editor, bluenotes
Why aren't more Australian companies peering behind the bamboo curtain into Asia? At a recent ANZ town hall, chief executives of ANZ's Asian businesses offered some thoughts.
25 Feb 2015
The simple key to business success at home and abroad
Andrew Carlton | Vice president of customer service, American Express
Close to one billion new consumers will play a major role in shaping global demand for businesses over the next five years, according to Deloitte, as developing economies in Asia, Africa and Latin America continue to see rapid growth of their middle classes.
23 Feb 2015
ANZ’s expertise can help the Pacific: Mohan
Phoebe O'Sullivan | BlueNotes contributing editor
The CEO of ANZ’s operations in the Pacific Vishnu Mohan says ANZ’s regional development agreement with the Australian government is an opportunity for the bank to use its expertise to better the region.
19 Feb 2015
Cards still fitting the payment bill
Mike Ebstein | Director, MWE Consulting
After several years of losing share to debit cards – reflecting more cautious consumers – the data for 2014 have shown credit cards are back in vogue. But not the credit card of old.
17 Feb 2015
Australia, beautiful for banking one day but what about the next?
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
It is still said that, economically speaking, Australia is basically a quarry, farm and beach. Resources, agriculture, tourism.
13 Feb 2015
Confidence crisis forces business down risk-averse path
Keith Skinner | Chief Operating Officer, Deloitte Australia
Chief financial officers in Australia are experiencing a crisis of confidence when it comes to risk appetite and plans for investment and growth, while pessimism around China is on the rise.
10 Feb 2015
Do rate cuts mean full steam ahead for Aussie bank shares?
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
The investor-focussed traditional weekend media in Australia did a thorough go over of the implications of the Reserve Bank’s somewhat surprising decisions to cut the overnight cash rate 25 basis points last week.
03 Feb 2015
Digital is boring
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
If the age of digital financial services has not yet arrived completely, it’s not for lack of publicity. Every consultant worth their MBA has contributed something on digital disruption and 2015 has kicked off with leagues of reports.
03 Feb 2015
A slow start no surprise for Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect
Ivy Au Yeung | Chief Executive Officer ANZ Hong Kong
The Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect scheme was launched in November last year and although it was highly anticipated by global investors, it has seen a lukewarm start. There are several reasons for this and I don’t think any of them are fundamental problems.
23 Jan 2015
New era of business opportunity for India-Australia enterprise
Subhas DeGamia | Former CEO India, ANZ
At the ABWI, I heard one phrase repeated frequently: India has some key requirements and, for most, Australia has the resources and capability to meet and supply.
23 Jan 2015
New news for new New Zealanders
Stefan Herrick | Senior Manager External Communications New Zealand, ANZ
Winton, a small rural service town in New Zealand’s Deep South, has seen an influx of new residents in recent years. They are farm workers and managers from the Philippines, brought in to fill a shortfall in workers on the region’s booming dairy farms.
22 Jan 2015
Five ways tennis is a huge growth business
Louise Eyres | Group General Manager Marketing, ANZ
January means tennis. And tennis is a growth business indeed.
20 Jan 2015
Murray stepped back on bank capital but Basel has stepped up
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
Looking at the top 10 stocks on the Australian stock exchange, the dominant role played by the Big Four banks in equity portfolios is clear. The top two stocks are banks: Commonwealth Bank and Westpac Banking Corp. In positions four and five are ANZ Banking Group and National Australia Bank.
20 Jan 2015
Payments under the Murray microscope
Mike Ebstein | Director, MWE Consulting
As Australian – and global – reforms of payments systems have demonstrated, they are complex networks. Complex to operate, complex to regulate, complex to forecast. But they are vital to efficient economies.
19 Jan 2015
The one issue holding NZ SMEs back
Fred Ohlsson | Group Executive, ANZ Australia
New Zealand is a great example of a small place that can do very big things. Over the past 18 months, the country’s economy has been held up as an example of how to catch a strong tailwind.
16 Jan 2015
Six myths about running a successful major event
Paul McNamee | Grand Slam winner and noted sports administrator
Paul McNamee has served as tournament director of the Australian Open of Tennis, the Hopman Cup and the Australian Open of Golf. Below he shares some secrets that he learned running Australia’s biggest sporting events.
14 Jan 2015
Tapping the biggest shift in consumer payments
Lance Blockley | Managing Director Consulting, RFi Group
For many, many years I have presented at payments conferences about how consumer payments are habit forming. People tend to be “locked in” to how they pay for things by the time they are 30 years old. A much stronger – not just slightly stronger - “value proposition” is needed to knock them out of their old payment habit and into something new.
13 Jan 2015
Are banks like Kodak? Or capable of adapting to a new world?
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
Come the new year and the tenor of most commentary is inevitably what does the future hold? In the financial services sector that speculation tends to fall into two categories: for markets like Australia, with a healthy system where banks dominate investment portfolios, the question is can their performance continue to sustain expectations for dividends and capital growth.
12 Jan 2015
The four big shifts redefining business
Mike Smith | Former Chief Executive Officer, ANZ
Last month I spoke to ANZ’s shareholders about four big shifts which are redefining the future for ANZ and for business - global integration, demographics, resources and technology.
08 Jan 2015
Making hay from payday loans
Steve Worthington | Professor at Swinburne University
The "payday" loans industry has shifted from the fringe of consumer finance in Australia to the mainstream despite recent regulatory setbacks and a challenged image. The country’s short-term lending market is thought to be worth around $800 million a year. But developments overseas mean there could be more movement in the sector ahead.
06 Jan 2015
Professional Tennis: lots of footwork, not a lot of winners
Paul McNamee | Grand Slam winner and noted sports administrator
A LABOUR OF LOVE
24 Dec 2014
The BlueNotes Debate: Will 2015 belong to the bulls or the bears?
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
BlueNotes Debates bring together important voices across the business, economic and social spectrum to thrash out where the issues lie. Managing editor Andrew Cornell chaired a forum of regional corporate advisory, restructuring and administration professionals to debate their particular take on the outlook.
19 Dec 2014
New Aus bank capital regime will be evolution not revolution
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
While markets have focussed on possible new capital requirements for Australian banks in the wake of a major review, ANZ chief financial officer Shayne Elliott notes the new regime will come in gradually and banks have many options to manage the shift.
16 Dec 2014
Murray was right to support the principles of regulation not set the letter
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
There’s been a major financial system review produced, concerns linger around a housing bubble, consumer confidence is fragile, the banking sector is dominated by a group of majors and the resource economy is making a slow transition to other growth drivers.
15 Dec 2014
Risk weighted assets: a journey of improvement
Brad Carr | Director, Institute of International Finance
Among the various issues highlighted by the Financial System Inquiry (FSI) was the calculation of banks’ risk-weighted assets (RWA). As the basis for banks’ regulatory capital requirements, this is a central measure in investors’ assessment of a bank’s balance sheet strength, as well as influencing bank pricing and shareholders’ returns.
15 Dec 2014
The changing face of audit
Michael Liarakos | Group General Manager Global Internal Audit, ANZ
There’s a great song performed by Perry Como that goes like this: “You gotta accentuate the positive / Eliminate the negative / And latch onto the affirmative / Don’t mess with Mister-In-between”.
11 Dec 2014
SME growth blockers and how to get past them
Shane White | Senior production editor, bluenotes
Small and medium-sized Australian companies that have fallen off the growth curve are often faced with similar issues, regardless of their industry.
10 Dec 2014
Adding exams would give Murray report extra marks
Amanda Gome | Former head of digital and social media, ANZ
ANZ welcomes recommendations from David Murray’s year-long review into the financial services industry to lift education, training and competency standards for financial advisers.
10 Dec 2014
Australia, Islam and the $2 trillion dollar industry
Bryan Paisley | Partner, Baker and McKenzie
From the initial attempts in the late seventies to reconcile the ancient teachings of Islam with modern finance, Islamic finance has grown into a global industry worth approximately US$2 trillion today.
09 Dec 2014
NZ businesses need to reflect the community’s changing face
Fred Ohlsson | Group Executive, ANZ Australia
You don’t need to walk far in Auckland to see the face of the city has changed almost beyond recognition in recent decades.
09 Dec 2014
The new payments platform will change the way Australia does business
Phil Chronican | Former CEO ANZ Australia
The recently forged New Payments Platform, with 12 financial institutions signed up to take part, will change the way Australia does business. With the ability to receive real time payment confirmation, businesses and individuals will have greater confidence to exchange.
03 Dec 2014
The digital reality gap - generational and regional difference pronounced
Alan Shields | Managing Director, Research and Advisory, RFi
When is distribution like a circus act? When it’s about juggling and balancing.
02 Dec 2014
Flagfall finally for Australia’s real time payments revolution
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
After a few delays and strong arming from the Reserve Bank of Australia, sufficient financial institutions, including the big banks, have now signed up to build Australia’s real time payments system, the prosaically named 'New Payments Platform', the NPP.
02 Dec 2014
Australia needs to work together
Steve Shepherd | Employment market analyst, Randstad
There’s a new reality at play in the modern Australian workforce: as technology envelops all things, fewer and fewer jobs are being worked in isolation. Almost every role requires some level of coaching, mentoring or support from others to generate collective results.
26 Nov 2014
The long march to the mixed economy
He Fan | Senior Research Fellow, Institute of World Economics and Politics
As in other areas, the reform of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in China has been a gradual process. Now, almost 25 years after SOE reforms began, the government must tackle new problems: breaking down special interests, distancing the state from the daily operation of enterprises - and associated issues of corruption - and improving the overall efficiency of the economy.
25 Nov 2014
Central bankers need to talk the talk
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
The United States Federal Reserve has taken navel gazing to a new level with two of its officers publishing a paper on the way the Fed talks.
18 Nov 2014
China deal to bring growth boost
ANZ Research |
ANZ CEO Mike Smith has welcomed the signing of a free trade agreement between Australia and China, saying the deal will provide a boost to economic growth in both countries.
18 Nov 2014
Accountants: flush with cash, looking to buy
Glenn Jennings & Nicole Franklin | BlueNotes contributing editors
There is one industry which should be happy with increasing regulation in Australia: accounting. Most of the industry’s revenue growth over the past few years has come at the hands of audit compliance and financial reporting.
18 Nov 2014
It takes more than two to tango in the new world of payments
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
It now seems likely, following some very strongly encouraging words by Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens in a recent speech, that enough major payments-industry participants have signed up to make a start on Australia’s long-expected real time payments platform.
13 Nov 2014
Culture is the challenge in Asia but language is a vital key
Jonathan Harvey | Former Group General Manager Executive Development, ANZ
On a return flight from Singapore recently, where I had been interviewing candidates for ANZ’s Generalist Bankers Program (a Management Trainee project designed to build an internal pipeline of future Country CEOs), I reflected on the fact 70 per cent of the 700 applicants for the 2015 intake and eight out of the 10 candidates who we had decided to progress to the final stage of the selection process, speak an Asian language in addition to English.
11 Nov 2014
G20 looking at global bank rules but regulator emphasises culture
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
Having covered a few multi-lateral summits in my time – the best being the G8 held in Okinawa (remote to deter protestors but a tropical paradise) – I have a lot of sympathy for Brisbane where the G20 gathering will take place this week.
11 Nov 2014
Smart cities: our new infrastructure opportunity
Mike Smith | Former Chief Executive Officer, ANZ
I have been a frequent visitor to China over 30 years. Its continuing transformation and growth is nothing short of remarkable. The country’s far-sighted focus on opening up has supported industrialisation and urbanisation on an unprecedented scale.
06 Nov 2014
Australia and South Korea: Seoul mates
Tim Harcourt | Author, The Airport Economist
As the G20 approaches in Brisbane, it is important to recall that the G20 leaders meetings were the initiative of South Korea and Australia, when Kevin Rudd was Prime Minister and the world was facing the biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression in the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). The leaders acted swiftly and the G20 arrived as a major international economic institution.
06 Nov 2014
Macro-prudence: What the FSI really needs to do
Richard Batten & David Eterovic | Expert in Financial Systems Regulation & Corporate Finance and Debt Restructuring, Minter Ellison
The Financial Systems Inquiry panel will be hard pressed to find evidence to support fundamental change to the regulatory structure of the banking sector, especially the kind that might flow into regulative change - one of the central issues it is considering.
05 Nov 2014
Watershed moment in funding of record bank profits
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
Westpac rounded out the Australian bank profit reporting season on Monday for those banks with a September year (Commonwealth Bank, with a June year, has a trading update this week) and one set of figures stood out: total loans grew 8 per cent over the year to $580.3 billion while total customer deposits grew 7 per cent to $409.2 billion.
29 Oct 2014
Safer banks = more volatile markets
Sean Keane | Founder & Managing Director, Triple T Consulting
One of the themes that came up a number of times during the range of meetings during my recent trip to North America was about where the next crisis was most likely to come from. In particular there was focus on how the banking industry was likely to cope during some future financial crisis.
28 Oct 2014
Stress tests and inquiries not just about banks
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
Three of Australia and New Zealand’s four major banks report their full year profits over the next two weeks and the fourth, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, will provide a trading update. The consensus of public forecasts is for a solid season absent of one-offs such as restructuring costs.
27 Oct 2014
Indonesia: beyond the change, stability and opportunity
Joseph Abraham | Former President Director Indonesia, ANZ
The world’s attention has been focussed on the drama and romance of Joko Widodo’s journey to president, but the transition is also another chapter in the evolution of Indonesia into a major economy.
27 Oct 2014
Behind the numbers – what’s in a profit?
John Nguyen | Former Global Head of External and Regulatory Reporting, ANZ
ANZ, like all listed companies distributes financial data along with half and full-year results. But what is the market looking for?
23 Oct 2014
The first small steps to giving
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
The philanthropic universe is tilting. There are no longer clear lines between business, charities, not-for-profits and those who give. Those groups receiving funds realise they are in a competitive market, they must be able to demonstrate the difference they make.
22 Oct 2014
Financial services still has a gender problem
Russell Thomas | CEO and Managing Director, Finsia
Women in the industry are paid less than their male counterparts and remain underrepresented in leadership roles.
21 Oct 2014
Gough Whitlam and the start of the modern Australia-China relationship
Nicole Franklin | BlueNotes contributing editor
Australia’s 21st Prime Minister Gough Whitlam died Tuesday aged 98. One of the most colourful and transformative figures in Australian domestic politics, he was also the first politician to re-engage with China in the modern age. He visited as Opposition leader and Prime Minister. Here are 10 of his most prescient insights following his 1971 visit.
17 Oct 2014
A new business model for football?
Steve Worthington | Professor at Swinburne University
Football – real, international football – is the richest sport on the planet. Not just because the sums involved in leagues and players are huge, but because it is played so widely. Only the United Nations rivals the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA).
15 Oct 2014
Huge fillip for Australian start-ups from changes to share rules
Amanda Gome | Former head of digital and social media, ANZ
Like thousands of other entrepreneurs, I made a promise. When running my digital media start-up, I had offered a prominent journalist a small stake to lure him away from a prestigious job at a large company.
14 Oct 2014
Regulatory response to housing bubble all in the past
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
It’s possible David Murray’s Financial System Inquiry may make some recommendations on bank capital. It’s also possible the Reserve Bank of Australia may introduce some so-called “macro-prudential” measures to address particular concerns around asset bubbles.
08 Oct 2014
Quiet achievers reveal where business is heading
Mark Whelan | Group Executive, Institutional at ANZ
Normally, I’m not much of a list person but I’ve found an exception: the Top 500 Private Companies list, compiled by IBIS - and not in the least because I can count how many of the 500 companies bank with ANZ. We have six of the top 10 this year.
04 Sep 2014
Aus agri sector already a winner but big questions remain
Grant Mitchell | Director, Port Jackson Partners
Released in 2012, the “Greener Pastures” Insight report outlined Australia’s “next boom”, agriculture, an opportunity which is now firmly on the national agenda – in business and politics.
04 Sep 2014
Intense competition and costs drive innovation in Hong Kong restaurants
Nicole Franklin & Zebrina Lau | BlueNotes contributing editors
Hong Kong’s vibrant restaurant scene is under threat – and not just from traditional rival food destinations in Asia like Singapore and Seoul. It’s not a noodle war, per se, but challenges in the way those noodles and other restaurant foods are prepared and served.
02 Sep 2014
Surcharge surprise for the Murray Inquiry
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
There’s something misleading about the term “surcharge”. Technically it sounds right – the “sur” prefix does denote over or above or more and a surcharge is an extra payment. But the implication is of a payment for an extra service.
29 Aug 2014
White Gold or Dirty Dairy – will environmental worries hobble New Zealand’s dairy boom?
Bernard Hickey | Publisher at Hive News
It seemed like a marriage made in heaven that would produce a never-ending boom.
28 Aug 2014
Great relationship banking crucial for long term associations
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
ANZ held its biennial Asia Investor Tour in Hong Kong in July with senior International and Investment Banking executives briefing institutional investors and analysts on the next phase of the bank’s Asian strategy. One of the most highly engaged sessions was a discussion with three major Asian clients, facilitated by senior banker Tony Souza.
26 Aug 2014
The dangers of false certainty in financial regulation
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
The second round of submissions to the Murray Financial System Inquiry close today and the FSI proposes to make most of them public on Friday. But recent public forums and speeches by David Murray, the chair, and committee members have added emphasis and indeed some new themes to the interim report released in July.
21 Aug 2014
Hopportunity knocks for Kiwi craft brewers
Stefan Herrick | Senior Manager External Communications New Zealand, ANZ
Twenty years ago New Zealanders were starting to discover they could make world-class wine. Skilled enthusiasts were buying up gravelly hillsides, planting grapes and getting creative with what New Zealand’s unique climate and conditions could produce.
19 Aug 2014
Australian banks continue to bewilder the northern hemisphere
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
The tale of the bank profit results and trading updates so far is retail banking is very healthy, business banking promises better but is yet to deliver and the credit cycle, almost incredibly, continues to defy sceptics.
13 Aug 2014
Crossing the Tasman with Mike Smith
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
There was a full ballroom at Melbourne’s Grand Hyatt today for the Trans-Tasman Business Circle business forum with ANZ CEO Mike Smith. Here’s the key takeaways from my wide-ranging conversation with Mike.
12 Aug 2014
The jobless rise is Australia’s wake-up call
Amanda Gome | Former head of digital and social media, ANZ
Last week’s rise in Australia’s jobless figures was a shock. Whether it was a rogue one off or heralds a shift to future employment rises, let’s take it as a big wake-up call just in case – in particular the data showing youth unemployment has risen above 20 per cent for the first time in 20 years.
07 Aug 2014
Four misconceptions hold back flexible working – and all the benefits that brings
Susie Babani | Former Chief Human Resources Officer at ANZ
All progressive companies have policies in place to enable flexible working. In Human Resources we tout the commercial benefits regularly but a mindset shift amongst management is the key to make it an everyday reality rather a big deal.
05 Aug 2014
Want to run an Aussie bank? Head to New Zealand
Andrew Cornell | Managing Editor bluenotes
New National Australia Bank chief executive Andrew Thorburn heralded his rein by anointing a new court of senior management. Much has been said about his choices and those who will leave the bank but one particularly interesting aspect is the deeper entrenchment of New Zealand banking in Australia.
04 Aug 2014
Job ads inches up again in July
Justin Fabo | Former Senior Economist, ANZ
The pace of improvement in job advertising has slowed but the modest 0.3 per cent increase in July is still encouraging, according to the ANZ job advertisements series, Australia’s leading employment and economic activity indicator.
28 Jul 2014
RBNZ pauses on rates but warns on currency
Bernard Hickey | Publisher at Hive News
In monetary policy terms, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand has just decided to have a “cup of tea, a bex and have a good lie down” - possibly until well into next year.
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