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Articles by David Walker
David Walker contributes to The Bank Investor and its sister publication, Banking Day.
Big banks warn: funding cost pressures are real 
Business conditions are weak, funding costs are rising and political pressure is an unwelcome distration from the business of running banks. These were the themes that dominated discussion at the annual general meetings of ANZ, National Australia Bank and Westpac last week.
Where leading bankers ... More
Bendigo elevated, BOQ cut by S&P
Ratings agency Standard & Poor's sketched out some of the capital-raising prospects of several regional and niche banks in the course of publishing revised ratings on more Australian banks.
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank finally received the upgrade to its credit rating that ... More
Published on Monday, 12 December, 2011
Filed under Bendigo and Adelaide, BOQ, Suncorp
Two banks seek control of home loan margins
The supposed nexus between the RBA's cash rate and the variable home loan rate paid by many borrowers may be broken from early 2012 if ANZ and also Bendigo and Adelaide Bank follow through on policies announced late last week.
ANZ on Thursday took the initiative and announced it will reprice home ... More
Published on Monday, 12 December, 2011
Filed under ANZ, Bendigo and Adelaide, mortgages
NAB determined to keep growing home loan share
National Australia Bank is the one bank that has acquired meaningful extra market share in the home loan market over the last couple of years, with other major banks largely consolidating their positions after the windfall generated by the financial crisis of 2008.
NAB will keep its foot on the ... More
S&P downgrades may increase banks' cost of funds
Standard & Poor's late last week cut the long-term credit ratings of Australia's four major banks by one notch to AA- from AA. The downgrading was expected and in line with the review of country ratings released by S&P last month.
The ratings of each major bank's subsidiaries in New Zealand (ANZ ... More
Published on Monday, 5 December, 2011
Filed under ANZ, Commonwealth, NAB, Westpac, Macquarie Group
EzeATM chases its consolidation dream
EzeATM, a recently listed-listed ATM operator, is moving quickly to realise the ambitions of those behind the float of this ultra-niche provider in the automatic teller machine market. On Wednesday last week the company confirmed that it would buy the Australian ATM fleet of iCash ... More
Published on Monday, 5 December, 2011
Westpac revamps senior management and structure
The speculation was immediate and universal: Brian Hartzer, the incoming chief executive for Australian Financial Services division at Westpac, can expect to be the next managing director of the bank - and sooner rather than later.
But will he be? Probably, though the issue of CEO succession at ... More
Published on Monday, 28 November, 2011
Filed under Westpac, technology
CUBS struggle to achieve growth
Merger activity continued in the credit union and building society sector in 200, as institutions looked for cost efficencies and other benfits that size offers. Despite the ongoing consolidation, the atest research suggest that the sector is still strugging to increase earnings, control costs and ... More
Published on Monday, 28 November, 2011
Filed under small institutions
Systemic lending challenge for CBA
Commonwealth Bank will continue to aim for lending growth in line with system growth, a goal likely to reinforce the reversal in interest margins that was a feature of its trading update for the September 2011 quarter published last week.
The bank on last week reported cash earnings of A$1.75 ... More
Armaguard chases ATM cash
Linfox Armaguard is the company in talks to launch a takeover bid for Customers Limited, the largest operator of automatic teller machines in Australia.
Media speculation about an offer for the ASX-listed Customers first surfaced in May. Speculation then was that the offer came from a private ... More
Published on Monday, 14 November, 2011
Filed under Customers Limited, small institutions
Cost of funds headaches worsen for banks
Getting a read on the Australian effects of the European-induced stress to credit markets can be difficult.
Banks by and large have sold little debt offshore since markets become much more complicated in August. And other pricing indicators, such as credit default swaps, leave a lot to be ... More
Floods dampens sales rather than repayments at Suncorp
This year's Queensland floods are mostly hindering Suncorp's banking business by robbing it of opportunities for new business, rather than by causing borrowers to miss payments. As a result, the bank has elected to release A$20 million of a $25 million provision against losses from the floods ... More
Published on Monday, 14 November, 2011
Filed under Suncorp, asset quality
