Please note that as of August 2012, The Bank Investor site is no longer being updated. Australia and New Zealand's best analysis of the banking and finance industry can be found at Banking Day.
Articles by David Walker
David Walker contributes to The Bank Investor and its sister publication, Banking Day.
NAB tech investment could be an earner 
National Australia Bank may finally earn a return on a speculative, 17-year old investment in a technology company, if a decision by the US Court of Appeals stands.
CLS Bank, which clears many foreign exchange transactions, will have to negotiate a royalty with NAB-controlled Alice Corporation ... More
Published on Monday, 16 July, 2012
Filed under NAB, technology
ANZ loosens ties with China
One of ANZ's early investments in China looks stranded, with the bank announcing yesterday that it will not support a capital raising for Bank of Tianjin.
The decision means the bank's stake in Bank of Tianjin will fall to 17.6 per cent from 20 per cent, ANZ said. ANZ will instead "prioritise ... More
Published on Monday, 9 July, 2012
Filed under ANZ
Small caps: Government gift card review is good news for Adept Solutions
Adept Solutions, a fringe payments provider that specialises in pre-paid cards (ASX code AAO), is in the market for $2.9 million in new capital through a rights issue and placement.
The funds will be used to grow sales and improve the product offering developed by EMerchants over 12 years and ... More
Published on Monday, 9 July, 2012
Filed under small institutions, Specialist finance
ANZ may incorporate in Singapore
ANZ may have to incorporate its retail banking operations in Singapore and shift capital there.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) last week outlined plans to require foreign banks "that are important to the domestic market" to incorporate their retail operations. The good news is that ANZ ... More
Published on Monday, 2 July, 2012
Filed under ANZ
Basel III liquidity targets may be diluted
International industry lobbying for a watering down of the liquidity targets proposed for banks may be successful, with both rumoured and confirmed evidence of a change of heart on the part of regulators.
The Wall Street Journal reported that regulators may allow banks to count gold and some ... More
Published on Monday, 25 June, 2012
Filed under prudential, APRA
NAB culls business bankers as business customer satisfaction falls
National Australia Bank is cutting the number of business bankers on its payroll and steering customers towards call centres for help instead.
Over the last week, customers of NAB have received letters signed by Cindy Batchelor, the bank's head of small business banking, advising them of the ... More
ANZ aims to be a Top Four international bank in Asia
The multiplying challenges of managing ANZ's ambitions for expansion in Asia were sketched out in a presentation last week to coincide with a tour by management and select investment analysts of the bank's operations in Singapore and Jakarta.
ANZ even dug up a few nuggets of data on its costs, ... More
What the analysts are saying: Suncorp earns an upgrade
Suncorp's new simplification program has won favour with analysts at Deutsche Bank and Macquarie Equities, who upgraded the stock after the Suncorp's strategy briefing last week.
Deutsche Bank upgraded Suncorp to a Buy, saying the group's program had the potential to add 10 per cent to profits by ... More
NAB's Clydesdale Bank losses heavier than earlier reported
National Australia Bank has provided an alternative, and grimmer, view of its UK banking business in the UK over the half year to March 2012.
Financial statements for Clydesdale Bank, published by the NAB subsidiary on Friday, show the bank made a loss of £186 million (A$297 million) in the March ... More
CBA will live with tighter margins
Commonwealth Bank will wear the squeeze on its interest margins from more expensive term funding, the bank's chief executive told an investor briefing last week. CBA released its third-quarter trading update on Thursday. It said unaudited cash earnings for the quarter were A$1.75 billion.The bank ... More
Banking regulator cautions on cost cutting
The banking regulator beat the drum once more on the need for banks to lift their percentage of long-term funding on Friday, with APRA chair John Laker using a speech to remind banks they must do so. Or at least they must show they have made every effort to do so before they will be given access ... More
Published on Monday, 14 May, 2012
Filed under APRA, prudential
Budget changes will crimp bank earnings
The projected net profits and earnings per share of banks, and most companies, will have to be trimmed, with confirmation in last week's federal Budget announcement that the rate of company tax will remain at 30 per cent. A cut to 29 per cent had been outlined as part of the tax reforms connected ... More
Published on Monday, 14 May, 2012
Filed under government policy
