Australia & NZ

Following a review of allocations practices in equity raising transactions, ASIC said allocations to employees should be avoided as they can present conflicts of interest.

Caps on investor and interest-only lending have served their purpose of moderating higher risk lending and improving lending standards, according to APRA chairman Wayne Byres.

Australian banks are reportedly lobbying for APRA to loosen its tough stance on the capital requirements it proposed last month, as funding costs rise more than expected.

Xinja Bank, the latest recipient of the restricted ADI licence, has a prepaid card on the market and an ASIC-approved home loan product.

New specialist investigators are expected to bring more competition cases to court each year and boost prosecutions of criminal cartels, especially in the financial sector.

While superannuation is not traditionally associated with financial crime exploitation, AUSTRAC's risk assessment has rated the sector as medium risk.

The proposal would set a Tier 1 capital requirement equal to 16% of risk-weighted assets for the big four banks, and 15% for other banks, up from 8.5% currently.

National Australia Bank plans to migrate more than 300 applications, including some core banking systems, to a public cloud by the end of 2019.

An inquiry by Australia's competition watchdog found that opaque discretionary mortgage pricing at major banks is stifling competition and disincentivising borrowers from seeking better offers.

The powers granted under the bill allow law enforcement agencies to compel access to encrypted messages, which could have broader implications for financial services.