The Commonwealth Bank of Australia is severing its relationship with mortgage brokers who fail to sign up enough customers to their home loans.

Australia's largest general insurer posted a 4.3 per cent fall in first-half net profit, but that's better than the market expected.

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A parliamentary inquiry into the $44 billion life insurance industry is likely to dredge up a range of issues.

Bank staff have reported pressure to "not rock the boat" by calling out unethical or unlawful behaviour, the union representing finance workers says.

Australians need 4113 reasons to start worrying about credit card debt.

Westpac says its level of stressed assets fell slightly in the three months to December 31 after a rise in dairy, oil and metals prices boosted the quality of its portfolio.

More than 7000 Commonwealth Bank of Australia part-time staff are owed millions of dollars in unpaid superannuation entitlements, according to legal advice.

Bank staff would have to act in a "fair and ethical manner" without engaging in "pressure sales techniques" under a new code of conduct proposed by an industry-led review.

Online comparison website iSelect has returned to profit in the first half, partly due to a significant increase in customers using its electricity and telecommunications providers' referral service.

Banks are issuing customers with credit cards without fully understanding the purpose of the card or the customers' ability to pay back the debt. 

The jockeying for control of Hunter Hall is entering the final stretch with one of the bidders raising its bid for the company for the third time – but only until Monday evening

National Australia Bank's most senior bankers this week swapped their city offices for a type of executive road trip.

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First Super has written to four fund managers that it invests members' money in questioning the Domino's business model after the recent Fairfax investigation into the pizza giant.

The corporate watchdog says the insurance industry is doing itself no favours by selling junk products that hurt the most vulnerable.

Australia's powerful financial regulator has revealed that it views climate change as a "material" risk that it will be giving more attention to in monitoring the health of banks, insurers and wealth managers.

ANZ Banking Group chief Shayne Elliott says his overhaul of the business is starting to pay off, after a strong first quarter in which profits rebounded by nearly a third to $2 billion compared with a weak period last year.

Former Queensland premier Anna Bligh has been named as the new head of Australia's peak banking lobby group.

A long-awaited review into the governance of industry super funds by former Reserve Bank governor Bernie Fraser has found no grounds for legislation that would force boards to have a minimum number of "independent" directors.

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.