SPECIAL REPORT: Technology and a greater emphasis on strategic advice are how one local accounting franchise hopes to brace for changes in the professional services sector.
Fortescue Metals Group founder and chair Andrew Forrest has seen his stake in the miner increase $249 million in value over the past four weeks, according to data on directors’ shareholdings tracked by Business News.
A company selling car repair warranties will refund $4.9 million to thousands of customers who were sold high-priced cover by sales staff chasing bigger commissions.
Insurers Suncorp and Allianz will be forced to repay almost $63 million to thousands of customers who were sold worthless or near-worthless insurance add-ons when buying cars at dealerships.
Financial services company Euroz says it expects a small dip in half-year profits, with a strong contribution from its funds management operation offset by a significant reduction in corporate finance deals.
Kalgoorlie-based bank Goldfields Money has agreed to a scrip-based merger with mortgage aggregator Finsure, valuing the combined group at $97.5 million.
UPDATED: Australian startups will now be able to raise capital via crowdfunding sources after the corporate watchdog today approved the first batch of licences allowing companies to act as intermediaries in the process.
Sydney-based Spring Financial Group has announced it will acquire Perth-based financial planning firm Wealth Today, led by managing director Greg Pennells, for $1.67 million.
EY’s Perth managing partner, Mike Anghie, is planning to join APM as its chief executive, four months after advising Quadrant Private Equity on the purchase of a 60 per cent stake in what is Australia’s largest privately owned human services company.
Global regulatory technology play Kyckr has appointed Tesco Bank CEO Benny Higgins to replace HBF CEO John Van Der Wielen as chairman next year as the group revamps its board.
The Australian share market has closed lower following the shock announcement of a royal commission into the finance industry, with banks and insurers hit by the news - Commonwealth Bank and ANZ recording the biggest falls.
Brisbane-based Firstmac Holdings said today it would not extend its cash takeover offer for Goldfields Money, which has recommended shareholders support an alternative scrip-based merger with mortgage aggregator Finsure.
Westpac Bank has absorbed the Western Australian business banking operations of its wholly-owned subsidiary St George Bank, adding to a string of changes in the sector.
The banking regulator is still concerned about the size of the mortgages being taken on by consumers despite the effectiveness of its efforts to curtail housing market risks.
ATM operator Stargroup has been placed in the hands of insolvency firm KordaMentha after the loss-making company was unable to complete a restructure of its $9.1 million debt.
Sodexo’s acquisition of Morris Corporation has pushed it up the ranking of big facilities management companies in Western Australia at a time when its competitors have been battling with the slowdown in large projects in the Pilbara.
A new capital markets platform that has backers from accounting firm BDO, law firm Steinepreis Paganin, and property group CrowdfundUP plans to target both traditional capital raising deals and the new field of equity crowdfunding.
Treasurer Ben Wyatt has kept open the possibility of a bank tax in Western Australia, after South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill today quietly dropped his state’s planned tax on the five biggest financial institutions.
The board of Kalgoorlie-based bank Goldfields Money has knocked back a fresh takeover bid from Brisbane financial business Firstmac Holdings, which valued the company at $1.27 per share.
Citibank will refund customers more than $4.3 million after failing to give back outstanding credit card balances, and providing misleading statements about unauthorised transactions.
The federal government has announced it will adopt a host of Senate committee recommendations aimed at improving mutual and cooperative firms’ ability to raise capital.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has banned a former Perth-based financial adviser from providing financial services for 10 years, while an ex-Commonwealth Bank financial planne
Former stockbroker Lewis Fellowes has been sentenced to three years’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to three dishonesty charges, but has been spared prison time after entering into a $30,000, five-year good behaviour bond.
