The Commonwealth Bank has reported a record interim cash profit of $4.91 billion, up 2 per cent on a year ago.

Wilson Asset Management pushes for a board spill at Hunter Hall Global Value as the takeover tussle for its management company intensifies.

Former Liberal minister Andrew Robb pressed the Turnbull government to hold a royal commission into the banks but one with a narrower scope to stymie the Labor party's assault on the major banks, cabinet sources say. 

​Bendigo and Adelaide Bank shares fell almost 5 per cent on Monday after the lender posted a relatively flat half-year result amid funding challenges and intense competition in the sector.

Banks caught up in a public brawl with Apple over digital payments have softened their negotiating position slightly.

Commonwealth Bank-owned Bankwest is further tightening the screws on property investors, no longer taking into account negative gearing tax breaks in new loan applications.

ANZ Bank's institutional chief Mark Whelan has slammed as "ludicrous" the notion that ANZ is turning its back on Asia, flagging a potential lift its investment in the region.

Commonwealth Bank is tipped to deliver a $4.84 billion half-year profit and maintain its dividend this week, as banks face pressure to offset slow growth by getting tougher on costs.

Daniel Tarullo's departure means Donald Trump will soon get to fill three of the Fed's seven board positions and put his stamp on the world's most powerful central bank.

Australia's banks are being told to amass even more capital by the International Monetary Fund, which says lenders should have larger buffers for absorbing losses from a housing market shock.

The fight for control of troubled fund manager Hunter Hall took a new twist on Friday as competing bidders joust to win a key block of shares from founder Peter Hall.

Tougher restrictions on bank lending may be needed if Australian house prices or mortgage debt accelerate again, the International Monetary Fund says.

Life insurers are feeling the impact of the crisis engulfing the $44 billion sector, with AMP hitting shareholders with a $344 million full-year loss and Suncorp signalling it is considering exiting the sector altogether.

A former Westpac banker has been given a three-year jail sentence after submitting loan documents with false information, as he encouraged elderly and vulnerable people to borrow against their homes and put the money into a property investment scheme.

AMP has moved to reassure shareholders the worst is behind it after it reported a $344 million full-year loss following massive writedowns in its troubled life insurance division.

Suncorp, Australia's second-largest general insurer by market share, said on Thursday it was considering "strategic alternatives" for its life insurance division after reporting a 1.3 percent rise in half-yearly net profit.

• COMMENT

That infamous phone call between Donald Trump and Malcolm Turnbull notwithstanding, shareholders in Australian banks should be grateful for the US president's appreciation of their dividend checks.

The Commonwealth Bank is freezing new lending to property investors looking to switch banks and refinance their mortgage, a move designed to slow strong growth in its lending to landlords.

Genworth Mortgage Insurance Australia expects a further decline in its premium revenue as it feels the pinch of rising mortgage stress and contracts with key customers come up for renewal.

Financial advisers inside the banks' wealth divisions are biased towards selling the banks' own life insurance products, the corporate watchdog has told a life insurance inquiry.

BNP Paribas shares dropped after France's largest bank posted earnings that cast doubt over growth in its home market.

The Commonwealth Bank has paid out $23 million to 1800 customers as part of its troubled internal compensation scheme for victims of bad financial advice.

• UPDATED

Macquarie Group's growth in the Australian home loan market slowed to a near standstill over the first three quarters of this financial year, partly because it did not want to match aggressive discounting by rivals.

National Australia Bank's first-quarter profit slipped 1 per cent to $1.6 billion, as earnings were dampened by higher expenses growth caused by staff pay rises.

National Australia Bank has been forced to pay $36.5 million in compensation after the regulator revealed it had ripped off hundreds of thousands of superannuation members and knocked back insurance claims to seriously ill customers.

As he prepared to sign orders designed to roll back bank regulations enacted to stop the next financial crisis, President Donald Trump said that the rules are stifling lending.

A "damning" report into lending practices by the big banks to small business has fuelled calls for a royal commission into the financial services sector.

Should compulsory superannuation aim to give Australians a retirement that is "comfortable," "adequate" or "dignified"?

President Donald Trump is moving to loosen rules enacted after the financial crisis that restrict the way Wall St operates.