Tag: CBA

The new management and board at the Commonwealth Bank is blowing up the corporate structure that David Murray built as CEO decades ago and is now defending as the new chair of the struggling AMP. In an announcement to the ASX yesterday the CBA said it was stripping itself back to being a bank.

The Commonwealth Bank now has the dubious distinction of having the two largest penalties ever imposed on an Australian company after it did a deal to end the embarrassing Austrac money laundering case by agreeing to a $700 million fine (and legal costs of $2.5 million) and making a new set of admissions over the breaches.

The Commonwealth Bank has raised more cash to bolster its capital base after agreeing to sell its stake in Chinese life insurer BoComm Life for $668 million.

The Commonwealth Bank shares were hit hard yesterday, falling to a near five year low after the bank produced what investors took to be a weak third quarter trading update, and yet another fine to settle a legal action from regulators.

Investors ignored the humiliating report from the key banking regulator about the recent performance of the Commonwealth Bank and sent the shares up yesterday – they rose 1.9% to $73.17 despite the report saying that “CBA turned a tin ear to external voices and community expectations about fair treatment”, and had raised “a number of prudential concerns”.

If you thought the performance of the AMP was pretty weak after the revelations at the banking royal commission, then think again. A report from the key bank regulator, APRA has damned the culture, management and board performance of the country’s biggest financial group and bank, the Commonwealth (CBA).

The Commonwealth Bank is bailing out of its funds management arm via a stockmarket float of the company with its $219 billion in assets acquired 18 years ago by then CEO, David Murray in a move that set up the current structure of the troubled Australian banking sector.

We have the perfect example of the resilience of our big banks, especially the biggest, the Commonwealth.

I’ve known the new CEO Matt Comyn, on and off, for about 12 years – ever since he started running the online share trading unit Commsec, which he did a pretty good job with. (I was trying to get him to promote Eureka Report in the early days, but didn’t get anywhere, and I ended up with Etrade instead).

Commonwealth Bank shares rose yesterday in a positive reaction to the news that it had promoted head of retail banking Matt Comyn to replace Ian Narev as the company’s chief executive.

The gradual emergence of CBA as the worst behaved Australian bank – in fact let’s be honest, the only badly behaved one – is truly shocking.

The Commonwealth Bank has admitted to a number of the breaches of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws, but also says it will be contesting other charges filed by Austrac, the Federal financial intelligence agency.

In news that will help steady a weak banking sector on the ASX, the Commonwealth Bank has revealed a solid 6% plus rise in first quarter cash earnings.

The break up of Australia’s big bank oligopoly is happening faster than either investors, a slothful Federal government, regulators or the late to the scene Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, or investors can comprehend with the news Thursday morning that the embattled Commonwealth Bank has not only sold its insurance business, but is eyeing the sale or float of the country’s biggest privately owned fund manager and its $219 billion in assets.

Here’s some of the extra pressure on the Commonwealth Bank share price over the next 8 to 9 months at least.

Class action funder, IMF Bentham has confirmed it will fund a Federal Court open class action against the Commonwealth Bank relating to those allegations that Australia’s biggest bank breached anti-money laundering and counter terrorism funding laws.

It was a month on Sunday that the Commonwealth Bank’s great secret and nightmare escaped from the secrecy of the bank’s boardroom and senior management offices in its Sydney HQ and out into the public arena – those devastating claims of money laundering from the country’s financial intelligence group, Austrac.

Some weak-minded analysts don’t like it, but the Commonwealth Bank is determined to add to the list of goodies delivered to shareholders yesterday with a record final and full year dividend by re-opening its dividend reinvestment plan (DRP).

The Commonwealth Bank has given dividends a boost to keep shareholders happy amid the concerns of the money laundering scandal. At the same time the bank has revealed it is looking at selling its troublesome insurance arm, while it is going to buy the remaining 20% of Aussie home Loans that it doesn’t already own.

Thank god there’s the marriage equality brawl inside the Liberal Party otherwise the Commonwealth Bank’s blundering so far as its money laundering responsibilities are concerned might have been a really big story. So it was a ‘lucky’ CBA that this morning revealed an attempt to try and salve the wounds to its reputation The CEO loses his incentive payment for the year to June, along with other “group executives and non executive directors have their 217-18 pay cut by 20%.

The stock market yesterday was in turn concerned, enthused, and then cautious about the Commonwealth Bank and its money laundering charges.

While the June 30 reporting season adds another gear this week, all attention will be on the full year figures from the Commonwealth Bank on Wednesday and what CEO, Ian Narev and chair, Catherine Livingston say about last Thursday’s sensational money laundering allegations levelled against the bank by the financial intelligence group, Austrac.

Investors ignored the news that the Commonwealth Bank faces a potentially crippling fine and damages from the financial transaction regulatory agency Austrac after a bombshell announcement from the agency late yesterday (http://austrac.gov.au/media/media-releases/austrac-seeks-civil-penalty-orders-against-cba).

Commonwealth Bank shares were down more than 3% on Friday afternoon as the money laundering claims from Austrac echoed around the market.

I thought the Commonwealth Bank’s result this week was really impressive: net interest margin was squeezed but cost control resulted in a solid 3.5% lift in the bottom line.

The Commonwealth Bank (CBA) has squeezed out an extra cent for shareholders on its interim dividend which will now be $1.99 a share after a flat result for the six months to December 31. Nevertheless the cash net profit hit a record $4.9 billion for the half.

The Commonwealth Bank (CBA) faces a moment of truth at its annual meeting today where its pay policies are expected to come under sustained assault from shareholders large and small.

Once again the silent millions have been ignored by silly media commentators rabbiting on about the way the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) didn’t pass on in full the Reserve Bank’s 0.25% rate cut last week to mortgagees, and instead cut mortgage by 0.13% and boosted some of its fixed deposit rates.

At first glance no shocks or surprises in the annual results from the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) this morning – dividend is flat on a year ago with the payment of a final of $2.22 a share making for a full year figure of $4.20 a share.

Investors gave the thumbs up to yesterday’s third quarter trading update from the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) after they discovered it didn’t contain any shocks, or suggestions of problems to come for the country’s biggest bank.

Unlike Westpac, the ANZ and the NAB last week with their half year reports, the third quarter trading update yesterday from the Commonwealth didn’t contain any shocks, or suggestions of problems to come for the country’s biggest bank.

We will hear a lot in the next few weeks about a financial concept we have not encountered called ‘dividend sustainability’ – it is the phrase and concept companies will use to justify decisions and we saw that for the first time with yesterday’s interim result from the Commonwealth bank.

The Commonwealth Bank (CBA) will pay an unchanged interim dividend of $1.98 a share for the December half year after reporting a modest 4% rise in cash earnings to $4.8 billion.

A mere half per cent rise in cash earnings for the September quarter won’t be enough, if repeated, in the current quarter to give shareholders in the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) hopes for second big increase in interim dividend when the half year result is announced next February.

The Commonwealth Bank (CBA) finished its $5.1 billion capital raising yesterday, but over half a million small shareholders said no thanks and took $2 a share for their trouble.

Commonwealth Bank (CBA) shares will remain suspended after its retail entitlement offer suffered a 50% shortfall, or $1.4 billion as its $5.1 billion capital raising missed its first mark. The bank believes the follow up issue will be filled to allow trading in the bank’s shares to resume later today.

As expected the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) plans to ask shareholders for around $5 billion in a generous discounted pro rata capital issue after revealing a 5% rise in cash profit for the year to June and a small dividend boost.

The third quarter trading update from the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) has confirmed the Australian banking sector has seen a sharp slowing in revenue and earnings growth.

As expected the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) boosted its interim cash net profit to a record level and will pay a record interim dividend as well.

The Commonwealth Bank’s (CBA) first-quarter earnings grew almost 10% to $2.3 billion, buoyed by customer growth and lower bad debts.