Every now and then something happens in our lives that challenges us to take a stand. This happened to me in 2018 when out of the blue I received a phone call from Roly Newman, a former client who I had not seen since my days at Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) some thirty years […]
Frank Costa was the embodiment of traditional family values, for him family was everything. At the same time he was a business leader way ahead of his time. He practiced values based leadership long before it became a fashionable management buzz word. Likewise was his mantra of “Hire for character, train for skill”. Frank could […]
This fourth and final article reviews the tumultuous last six months and looks to the future as we await Commissioner Hayne’s final report. But first a quick re-cap. When the hearings began, most of us had little idea of lay ahead. Not so for Commissioner Kenneth Hayne and his team, lead by loyal lieutenants Rowena […]
Part III in this four part series the “Wash up from the Royal Commission” looks at how the CBA, ANZ, Westpac and Macquarie fared at the RC and identifies five lessons which the big four banks can learn from Macquarie. CBA In October 2017, two months before the Royal Commission was announced, APRA commissioned an […]
Part II in this four part series is based on my 25 years in NAB’s frontline business, corporate and retail banking network as well as conversations with current and former customers and staff. I left NAB in 2008 so I am unable to rely on personal experience to opine on events after this time. This […]
Very few saw the Royal Commission steam train coming. Australia is indebted to Commissioner Kenneth Hayne and his team for bringing into the open how and why Australia’s banks have lost their way. We can only speculate what would have happened without this inquiry. As former career banker I have been mesmerised by the goings […]
The ABA has just released its new and improved Code of Banking Practice, the fourth version since 1993. But bank behaviour has not improved over this time which lends weight to the view these codes are not worth the paper they are written on. So it would be understandable, but unfortunate, if SMEs thought this […]
The aborted Prospa IPO raises questions not just about the online SME lender’s compliance with UCT but also ASIC’s role in applying and enforcing this law which came into effect in November 2016. In its prospectus Prospa said “we have reviewed our loan contract in relation to UCT in July 2015 and again in September […]
Prospa’s impressive growth trajectory is set to receive a boost when it becomes Australia’s first online small business lender to list on the ASX. But the prospectus exposes issues of transparency for the acknowledged market leader in what is a largely unregulated market. Propsa will raise $146m of new capital of which $100m will fund […]
Scott Morrison says bank boards need to step up, but maybe it would be better if they actually stepped down, starting with the chairmen? CBA’s tattered reputation took another blow today when APRA released this report on governance, culture and accountability at the bank. It will certainly increase the heat on CBA but the Treasurer […]
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