No US interest rate cut ‘required’ if growth continues: Fed member
The US Federal Reserve will not need to cut interest rates soon if the world’s largest economy continues on its current path, a voting member of the Fed said Tuesday. The remarks by Eric Rosengren, head of the Boston Federal Reserve Bank, came two weeks before the central bank is due to hold its next…
CommSec Daily Report Thursday
Latest News The Australian sharemarket has been aggressively sold off in early trade on Thursday. At the worst levels of the morning the Index was down 154 points or 2.3 per cent to 6,442. The follows steep falls overnight for US and European stocks in response to escalating concerns around slowing global growth. The Dow…
Former Melbourne financial adviser permanently banned
ASIC has permanently banned former financial advisor Robert Shane Michael of Bentleigh, Victoria, from providing financial services for engaging in misconduct which included dishonestly borrowing money from his clients’ SMSF accounts and using them for his own personal expenditure. From August 2009 to July 2017, Mr Michael was an authorised representative of Marigold Falconer International…
Australia depends less on Chinese trade than some might think
China now buys almost a third of Australia’s exports – about twice the value bought by second-placed Japan, and about nine times fifth-placed United States. It’s a situation that sparks fears of a Chinese economic slowdown, or a backlash if we offend China’s government in some way, such as by criticising its actions in Xinjiang…
APRA to change rules on bank executive pay
The prudential regulator is proposing to weaken the link between a bank’s financial performance and how much it pays its executives after the royal commission found that existing bonus structures contributed to poor treatment of customers. The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority on Tuesday released a draft standard aimed at “clarifying and strengthening” remuneration requirements in…
Yalumba chairman wins Aussie wine award
Yalumba’s chairman Robert Hill Smith has won the Maurice O’Shea Award for services to Australia’s wine industry. The award recognises the contribution of people or organisations have made to position Australia as a world leader in winemaking, cultivation, innovation and technology. Mr Hill Smith was appointed Yalumba’s managing director in 1985, joined the board in…
Biggest overhaul of job system under way
Job seekers in two states are now trialling the updated online Jobactive platform as part of the biggest overhaul of the unemployment sector in two decades. But the federal government is still facing calls to increase the Newstart unemployment payment, which hasn’t risen past inflation since the mid-1990s. The coalition wants the new online platform…
Fourth Sydney apartment block abandoned
The owner of a Sydney apartment in a block that remains empty over fears of land contamination, has likened his situation to being locked up and powerless to change his fate. People who bought into the Sugarcube Apartments and Honeycomb Terraces in Erskineville have been unable to move in due to Sydney Council’s concerns developer…
Biotech Cynata gets $202m takeover offer
Shares in Melbourne stem cell company Cynata Therapeutics have hit an eight-year high after it received a $202 million indicative and non-binding takeover offer from a Japanese pharmaceutical company. Separately, Cynata told the ASX in response to a query that it didn’t think the takeover bid could explain a rise in its securities in the…
Financial watchdog needs shake-up: review
The banking watchdog is too secretive, “unwilling to challenge itself” and slow to respond to problems, with an independent report demanding a major shake-up. The review slams the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority for its low profile and slow decision making, and calls for an overhaul of its organisational structure. But APRA’s chair Wayne Byres insists…
