Financial Services

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has slapped a five-year ban on a Queensland-based former employee of stockbroking firm Patersons Securities, after he made unauthorised trades on a client account and created false records on two further accounts.

Macquarie Group expects its 2018 financial year profit result to be broadly in line with its previous year record profit of $2.2 billion.

Treasurer Ben Wyatt has all but ruled out the introduction of a bank tax in the September budget but has kept the option open for a future decision, while the industry has called on the state government to protect Western Australia’s economic growth by not bringing in the levy.

Companies investing in research and development have access to an increasingly competitive new source of finance.

ANALYSIS: WA could find itself in a tough spot if the Reserve Bank raises interest rates in response to economic conditions in the eastern states.

Westpac has entered into exclusive discussions with property giant Charter Hall Group to sell its infrastructure investment business Hastings Management.

Bankwest is lifting mortgage rates for interest-only loans, following the lead from the big four banks, which already adjusted rates in an attempt to slow down riskier lending. 

Australia's biggest banks will have to find billions of dollars of extra cash by 2020, but the new requirement does not look like being much of a problem for them.

The corporate watchdog has banned a Perth financial adviser from the industry for failing to act in the best interests of his clients while he was employed by a subsidiary of Westpac.

SPECIAL REPORT: Small and mid-sized businesses will soon have a new option for raising capital when crowd-sourced funding legislation takes effect. 

China Construction Bank has become the third Chinese banking group to establish a presence in Perth, and those managing its operations are planning to make a larger impact than the competition.

Dogged legal action led by Fremantle-based Primary Securities has given investors in a failed Willmott Forests scheme the prospect of getting a return on their money.

Financial services business Euroz has flagged a surge in net profit for the 2017 financial year and an increased dividend payout, on the back of an improved performance by its broking arm.

National Australia Bank has apologised to at least 150,000 customers for failing to disclose that its advisers were cross-selling the bank's products.

West Perth-based Platinum Mortgage Securities has entered into a products sale agreement with La Trobe Financial, following a transfer of funds between the two businesses last year.

Chief executives at mid-cap companies in Western Australia are better paid than their peers in other states, but those at small companies in WA are worse off, an in-depth remuneration survey has found. Click through to access the report.

The corporate watchdog has removed a Perth insurance broker from the industry for failing to comply with regulations.

Business News sat down to lunch at Julio’s with new Bankwest managing director, Rowan Munchenberg

Five years after joining Macquarie Group as its Western Australian chairman, Mark Barnaba is leaving to pursue a career as a non-executive director, with his first new role to be on the board of Australia’s central bank.

Pitcher Partners managing director Bryan Hughes has announced he will move on to chair the Perth-headquartered firm, with executive director Leon Mok to step into his role.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia has followed its peers by raising its variable rates for interest-only mortgages, becoming the last of the big four banks to adjust its rates mix in an attempt to slow down riskier lending.

OPINION: Those among us who are unfamiliar with the term ‘collateral damage’ are about to learn its meaning first hand, because it is what we have become – innocent victims of bad governance across Australia.

National Australia Bank has followed its peers by raising its variable rates for interest-only mortgages in a bid to slow down riskier lending.

A Supreme Court dispute between West Perth firm Quantum Credit and a City Beach developer has shone a light on business practices at the risky end of the property finance market. 

The ASX closed 47 points lower after shares in Australia's big four banks were hit by a long-term credit ratings cut by Moody's, due to risks associated with the local housing market.

Australian Finance Group announced today its net profit for the current financial year would come in nearly 45 per cent higher than consensus forecasts, after a change in the way its treated certain commission income.

Australian Finance Group has decided to keep its interim chief executive in the role on a permanent basis, after Brett McKeon stepped down in March.

The corporate watchdog has removed another Perth-based financial adviser from the industry, for mishandling payments and deceiving clients.

ANZ Banking Group is raising variable rates on its interest-only mortgages by 0.3 percentage points as it reins in riskier lending in response to regulatory changes.

The corporate watchdog has banned a former Westpac employee from providing financial services after finding he mishandled more than $1 million worth of advice service obligations.

Financial services firm Merchant Group has announced plans to merge with investment bank and funds manager Somers & Partners.

Westpac says the government's new bank levy will hit its second-half profit by $65 million and will be the equivalent of a 4.3 per cent cut to dividend over a full financial year.