National Australia Bank is eyeing a lift in home loan revenue thanks to a recently-completed technology overhaul that it says is already turning more customer inquiries into loan sales.

DONALD TRUMP'S plan for sweeping tax cuts and deregulation will spur a US economic boom that could "last for generations" if the president-elect resists a lurch towards protectionism

Something unusual happened to the banks' profits this year. For the first time since the global financial crisis, they fell.

The Commonwealth Bank made 1400 investigations into suspected staff misconduct over the last year, with 59 cases involving executive managers.

An employee from the Australian Securities Investments Commission is facing up to 10 years in jail after being charged with money laundering offences.

• COMMENT

Wednesday's marked the day of the shareholder revenge - shareholders democracy in action.

Laws in Australia that prevent whistleblowers speaking out need to be changed, according to the lawyer running the class action on behalf of Christmas Island detainees.

Commonwealth Bank has withdrawn a controversial resolution asking shareholders to approve changes to its bonus scheme for chief executive Ian Narev, which would have introduced new performance hurdles relating to people and culture.

Westpac chief Brian Hartzer was paid $6.7 million last financial year - less than its predecessor Gail Kelly, but still about 80 times as much as the average Australian worker.

Cash Converters will refund almost $11 million to payday loan customers after the corporate watchdog caught it failing to check if borrowers could afford to pay back the loans.

US-style whistleblower laws don't just pay bounties, they stop companies retaliating against workers doing the right thing by society, US lawyer Jordan A. Thomas says.

CBA notched up a $2.4 billion profit in its first quarter, unchanged from a year earlier, as higher funding costs and falling interest rates weighed on profit margins.

The major banks will continue to exit the wealth and insurance markets as they look to refine their business models, a report predicts. 

• COMMENT

You know the hordes complaining about credit card interest rates of 22 or 23 per cent? They don't know what high interest rates are.

For Wall Street's bond traders and investment bankers, prospects for year-end bonuses are improving.

HSBC, which posted a 86pc pretax profit drop, warned of a dim outlook for its British business.

ANZ Bank says it is spending about $10 million a year less on its most senior executives, after recent senior appointments have been signed up on less generous packages than predecessors.

Westpac concedes it is paying out an unsustainable share of profits to shareholders as it seeks to preserve its dividend, raising questions about whether lower returns will force it to cut the payment in the future.

• COMMENT

While shareholders got their fix this time around they should really start to wonder how sustainable this shareholder generosity is beyond the 2016 financial year.

Three of the big banks are in a corporate brawl with Apple over access to the iPhone's payment technology.

Commonwealth Bank is staring down the barrel of a hefty vote against its remuneration report next week, as investors protest against the payment of multimillion dollar being paid despite a series of scandals.

Slater & Gordon has copped a protest vote against the pay packets it decided to award its top brass despite a horror year. 

ANZ has become the latest bank to eye an exit from wealth management amid a wave of scandals, new capital rules and calls for a royal commission.

ANZ Bank says it is prepared to surrender market share in home loans to rivals, as it eyes the risks of fast-rising house prices and soft household income growth.

• COMMENT

Australia's unique environment doesn't always translate successfully to less pristine corners of the globe - in nature and business, alike. Take Qantas. Or ANZ Bank.

ANZ Bank is considering selling off key parts of its wealth management business after it launched a strategic overview of the business because of disappointing returns.

The steam may be finally running out of the fast-paced rise in health insurance premiums of the past decade, with one of the nation's largest insurers seeing the level of 'claims inflation' nearly halve over the past year.

A swag of banks including Westpac, National Australia Bank and ANZ Bank reduced some of their term deposit rates during October.

The Australian protege of the real-life Wolf of Wall Street has been permanently banned from providing financial services after an investigation found he used client money to pay off his debts and fund his partner's cosmetic surgery.