Financial Services

National Australia Bank shares jumped more than 4 per cent after the lender lifted first-half earnings 6.5 per cent to $3.31 billion.

Small companies hoping to list on the stock market are facing tougher conditions, with more than a dozen announced deals in Western Australia hitting problems this year and the ASX foreshadowing tighter regulation of new deals.

The Reserve Bank of Australia has cut the cash rate to a record low to help battle faltering inflation.

ANZ Banking Group has cut its dividend for the first time since the GFC after its first-half profit slumped by nearly a quarter.

Mortgage broking wholesaler Australian Finance Group has upgraded its profit outlook for the 2016 financial year on the back of continued growth.

The corporate watchdog has permanently banned two local brokers from providing financial services for misconduct, while winding-up three abandoned companies based in Western Australia.

Local financial services provider Pioneer Credit has raised nearly $6 million from investors as it seeks to further grow its business.

SPECIAL REPORT: A flurry of deals over the past fortnight, including four acquisitions by international companies expanding in Western Australia and the year's largest capital raising, has added life to a flat corporate finance market. 

ANZ Banking Group will refund about $5 million to around 25,000 customers, including pensioners, after botching their account fees.

Medibank Private has hired Craig Drummond, an experienced banker who helped transform National Australia Bank, to run Australia's biggest private health provider.

Former Patersons Securities WA state manager Lewis Fellowes has been charged with using nearly $1.6 million in clients’ money for his personal use, and could be looking at up to 12 years behind bars.

A local financial services firm has been unable to secure its clients’ data following the failure of its east coast-based execution broker.

Rob Bransby has announced he will no longer leave his post as managing director of the state’s largest health insurer to become chief executive of Perth Racing.

The share market has edged higher despite weaker commodity prices and falls on other major markets.

The Australian stock market is trading lower after materials and healthcare stocks weighed on Wall Street in a second straight day of quiet trading.

CUA has enjoyed a strong lift in new home loans and a rise in half-year profit, but its boss says the result was held back by restrictions on investor lending.

Perth-based financial services provider Pioneer Credit has acquired an online mortgage broking company for an undisclosed sum.

Australia's largest payday lender, Perth-based Cash Converters International, has returned to the black and begun scaling back its troubled business in Britain.

Mortgage broking wholesaler Australian Finance Group has continued its growth run with an increase in profit for the six months to December.

The Australian share market has opened slightly higher after Wall Street performed better overnight amid increased oil prices.

Financial services provider Pioneer Credit says it’s on track for a record FY16, after delivering a 105 per cent rise in half-year profit.

Creditors of failed investment bank Lehman Brothers (Australia), including about 10 local councils in Western Australia, are likely to get a return of about 80 cents in the dollar after reaching a settlement with the owner of ratings agency Standard & Poor’s.

The Reserve Bank appears upbeat on the home front but won't rule out another interest rate cut in the face of an uncertain global economy.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia has lifted first half cash profit 3.92 per cent to a record $4.804 billion, but has decided against increasing its interim dividend.

Professional services firm KPMG inked its 11th acquisition in the past two years today, announcing the purchase of Melbourne-based Markets IT for an undisclosed sum.

A Mandurah-based payday lender that collected exorbitant fees and interest repayments from customers will pay them back $34,500.

Macquarie Group remains on track for a record full-year profit of more than $2 billion, though it says volatile market conditions make forecasting difficult.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia is expected to unveil another record first-half profit next week when it becomes the first of the big four to report results since last year's out-of-cycle mortgage rate hikes.

The Reserve Bank has again held fire on interest rates, issuing more upbeat domestic commentary despite an uncertain global outlook.

Melbourne-based PSC Insurance Group has put a value of $7.7 million on the Western Australian arm of Australian Reliance, after announcing today it was buying the insurance broking group in multiple phases.

Australia’s big four banks and one insurance company have been ranked within the top 100 most sustainable companies in the world, with Commonwealth Bank of Australia leading the charge for the nation.

SPECIAL REPORT: Local firms Azure Capital and Hartleys punched above their weight in 2015 in what was a lucrative year for a handful of top corporate advisers in WA. Click through to see which corporate advisers, lawyers and brokers managed 470 M&A and capital raising deals.