This Month
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Why our top CEOs fear for the great Australian dream
The concern among top CEOs about the housing crisis reflects broader worries about inequality, productivity and growth in a slowing economy.
- James Thomson
Australia will avoid a recession, says NAB CEO
Chief executive officer Ross McEwan says Australia’s economy is well positioned even if “it will continue to feel harder for some time”.
- Lucas Baird
Banker bonuses favouring opaque social metrics, advisers say
Incentives at the major banks are becoming less focused on maximising shareholder returns in a ‘retrograde step’, Institutional Shareholder Services warns.
- Lucas Baird
November
The banking oligopoly has failed, and here’s how
Mortgage and deposit competition has crushed profit margins at the major banks, whose infighting has weakened the big four oligopoly.
- Lucas Baird
- Opinion
- Big four
NAB defends its moat – at least for now
Rivals are keen to steal a slice of NAB’s coveted business lending book, but the Melbourne-based bank appears confident it can defend its moat.
- Karen Maley
- Updated
- Earnings season
‘I don’t see pressure coming off’: NAB says mortgage war will continue
The bank lifted its cash profit by 8.8 per cent for the 2023 financial year but CEO Ross McEwan pointed to a “more challenging environment” in the second half.
- Updated
- Lucas Baird and James Eyers
No cliff: NAB’s riskiest mortgage borrowers are hanging in there
Recent RBA rate rises mean some home loan borrowers have breached serviceability buffers. But Ross McEwan says their arrears are no different to other cohorts.
- James Eyers and Lucas Baird
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
‘Never see a year like that again’: NAB’s plan for banking’s grim reality
CEO Ross McEwan thinks Australia can dodge a recession, but an intensely competitive mortgage market means he’s looking for growth elsewhere.
- James Thomson
NAB the first bank to pass through Cup Day rate rise
ANZ and Westpac join the race too, and all banks move to adjust their savings rates on some deposit accounts by 25 basis points.
- Lucas Baird
October
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Near-record house prices can’t disguise a broken market
With house prices on pace to set new all-time highs, Australia’s affordability crisis is deepening. NAB chief executive Ross McEwan says a key solution will underpin urgent action.
- James Thomson
NAB veteran Angela Mentis retires, changing CEO succession race
The bank has lost a second senior executive this year, with its data and digital boss following former CFO Gary Lennon out the door.
- Updated
- James Eyers
September
Bankers battle against regional branch mandate
Commonwealth Bank boss Matt Comyn said it was unsustainable to invest in the regional network as the use of physical cash declined.
- Lucas Baird and James Eyers
NAB pursues popular budgeting app YNAB over ‘common syllable’
The app, You Need a Budget, is one of the most profitable and downloaded on Android and iPhone, but the big bank says it is “deceptively similar” to its own brand.
- Lucas Baird
August
- Opinion
- Superannuation
Ross McEwan’s important warning to super funds
National Australia Bank boss Ross McEwan has warned super funds there is a world of difference between managing customers’ money, and giving them financial advice.
- Karen Maley
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
NAB buyback is bullish signal on the economy – but not bank profits
That NAB’s board feels confident enough to launch a share buyback speaks to the outlook for the economy and its own balance sheet. But margin pressure is also building.
- James Thomson
NAB reports $1.9b quarterly profit and a surprise buyback
NAB’s $1.5 billion share buyback reflects the bank’s strength, analysts said, defying concerns about deteriorating credit quality and margin pressures.
- Updated
- James Eyers
The daily exercise this young executive does to train on AI
James Chin Moody, the co-founder of Sendle, has recommended young executives get into a daily habit of training with AI, embracing the technology which stands to upturn the future of the workplace.
- Mark Di Stefano and Jessica Sier
July
- Analysis
- Big four
Meet the executives next in line to run the big banks
It’s fast becoming the industry’s favourite guessing game – who will make up the next generation of big bank bosses?
- Karen Maley
- Opinion
- Flexible working
Big test for return to the office starts now
More Australian companies are trying to get more of their employees back to the office more often. They argue it’s better for employees, customers and businesses. Will it work?
- Updated
- Jennifer Hewett
Binance in the crosshairs as NAB bans ‘high-risk’ crypto exchanges
NAB’s head of fraud Chris Sheehan said the ban on payments would apply to “several” in the first instance and could be expanded further in future.
- Lucas Baird
