• EXCLUSIVE

National Australia Bank chairman Ken Henry says the nation faces an "extraordinary" economic opportunity to develop regions outside the capital cities, as the bank bets on a long-term lift in rural Australia.

• COMMENT

More than just about any other business, large banks (and their shareholders) receive big commercial advantages from their essential role in their economy.

National Australia Bank will advise customers who are overseas on the Aussie dollar cost of making purchases in foreign currency, including fees, as banks try to design apps that can adapt to what their clients are doing.

Such is the impact of Amazon that it is even affecting what people expect from their bank.

Macquarie Group, battling a surprise $6.2 billion tax on Australia's lenders, left open the option of moving its headquarters abroad on Friday.

Three of the country's big banks have cut interest rates paid to many customers with savings accounts in the past month as lenders try to protect their profit margins.

Wesley William Hall is suing Westpac for unfair dismissal and is seeking $600,000 in compensation.

A former NAB financial planner has been permanently banned from the industry after pleading guilty to misappropriating $2.3 million in client funds. Another is fighting a ban in Melbourne.

Australia's $2.8 trillion fund industry is one of the last havens for fund managers relying on human judgement for their investment calls. That may be about to end amid the global onslaught of low-cost, index-tracking funds.

NAB chair Ken Henry says communities and businesses can play a bigger role to develop projects.

• UPDATED

Corporate watchdog investigates whether share traders exploited inside information on bank levy.

Customers have been left without basic banking services as the major bank suffers what appears to be a nationwide outage.

Australian Prudential Regulation Authority chairman Wayne Byres has played down the impact of the bank levy on financial stability.

Australia's corporate insolvency laws are among the most favourable to banks in the world, but this mantle could be threatened by looming changes to wrestle power away from lenders.

• COMMENT

One word has been notably absent from discussion about China's credit downgrade: Fintech.

The head of the Treasury has dismissed the impact of $6.2 billion budget levy on banks.

Kingston branch to close in just over a month, but ATM will remain.

Consumers can expect to see more bank branches without cash, as the boom in digital finance pushes banks to use their retail stores to sell more complex financial products.

Australians are paying $31 billion in superannuation fees every year, with half that money going to funds that manage just 30 per cent of all accounts.

• EXCLUSIVE

NAB financial planners have been caught back-dating signatures on legally-binding superannuation documents in a breach of the bank's code of conduct.

Veteran banker says budget's pay regime for senior bankers won't lift accountability.

• UPDATED

NAB online banking customers are latest target of an email scam that tells victims their account has been disabled before prompting them to enter their password into a fake website.

AMP says it will expand its financial advice business as part of a new turnaround strategy, despite pressure on the banks to address conflicts of interest inside their wealth divisions.

The corporate regulator is pushing investment banks and stockbrokers to strengthen their handling of conflicts of interest and inside information when producing equity research for investors.

ANZ Bank chairman David Gonski is urging the government to enshrine in law its commitment not to raise the rate of the bank tax, in a concession lenders cannot stop the levy from going ahead.

Bank moves to raise their interest rates independently of the Reserve Bank has been central in eroding public trust in the industry, corporate regulator Greg Medcraft says.

Government stare down claims of $2 billion 'black hole' in revenue its bank tax will raise.

The banks have some of the best-performing super funds of all, at least for their employees.

Westpac is selling its remaining stake in fund manager BT Investment Management, offloading up to $645 million worth of stock to institutional investors and signalling it intends to ultimately sell all shares it holds in the business.