Bankers under the blowtorch
![The Hayne inquiry has proved to be the best blood sport in town.](http://web.archive.org./web/20181124065637im_/https://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/h/1/8/9/o/5/image.related.afrIndexLeadWide.460x260.h187fb.gshfrb.png/1542973234761.jpg)
The country couldn't look away this week as some of our top bankers were grilled on private conversations and boardroom machinations.
The country couldn't look away this week as some of our top bankers were grilled on private conversations and boardroom machinations.
There is a direct link between Australia's energy policy vacuum and the collapse of an engineering company working on about $1.1 billion in solar farms in Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia.
How absolute return investing, unlisted infrastructure and active ETFs can help ride out volatile markets.
A decisive Labor win in the Victorian election will revive the Liberal-National coalition's internal war over social issues and policy, political scientists say.
The spectacular collapse of engineering group RCR Tomlinson, which crashed into administration months after a $100m raising, is the story of a company that flew too close to the sun – literally.
The US is contacting key allies to get them to persuade telecom companies in their countries to avoid China's Huawei, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Corporate Australia faces years of litigation after the Hayne royal commission exposed ASIC for being a soft-touch regulator that was too close to the banks.
RCR's rivals say they are not interested in buying its solar business because its contracts are too risky.
The new BWX boss Myles Anceschi has a steep road back to winning investor trust after a failed management buyout and tumbling share price.
It's become the best corporate blood-sport in town: the no-holds-barred examination of banking and finance executives that is the Hayne royal commission.
ASIC's new supervisory officers "will give raw, frank, blunt - but very real - feedback to the people who need to hear it", ASIC's chairman told the Hayne inquiry.
The corporate regulator is investigating Commonwealth Bank's mis-selling of consumer credit insurance, which its chairman James Shipton said has been a systemic issue involving 11 institutions.
US stocks closed lower in a shortened post-holiday trading session on Friday as the energy sector tumbled on continued weakness in oil prices.
The nasty sell-off in equities has raised doubts about the Fed's willingness to boost rates again in December. It shouldn't.
The idea that public policy should place a large amount of emphasis on the economy's rate of growth is under assault by the political right as well as the left.
Investors may find their Christmas stockings rather empty if the traditional year-end market rally fails to materialise due to weak consumer spending.
Recent market volatility highlights how cheap financial credit is relative to almost all other asset classes, despite a big deleveraging of banks, writes Christopher Joye.
Britain's Theresa May came to get out of the European Union. France's Emmanuel Macron was in town looking for ways to further integrate the remaining 27 economies in the union.
The Liberals and the Nationals are failing to connect with the electorate in the second largest – and fastest growing – state in the nation.
The stunning collapse of engineering group RCR Tomlinson, months after pocketing another $100 million from investors, is the first big corporate casualty of Australia's solar energy boom.
All year ASIC chairman James Shipton and his team have been talking tough and yet it's taken him all year to finally make a sweeping show of strength.
Anxiety about population and immigration pressure is running high as outer suburbs bear the brunt of a fast-growing population.
Labor's proposed $15 billion taxpayer-backed interventions in energy markets risk crowding out private investment in low-emissions technology.
The Greens are facing brand damage from allegations of sexual assault in the two largest states which could spark a backlash in elections in Victoria, NSW and federally by May.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has ruled out any new taxes to pay for their $80 billion-plus infrastructure agenda but Treasurer Tim Pallas has refused to do the same.
On Saturday Victorians will decide whether their state – for decades the Liberal Party's "Jewel in the Crown" – has morphed into the Liberals' Crown of Thorns.
Modern India has some sound opportunities for patient capital but if we are to forge stronger investment and trade ties, we have to stop talking about sport and food.
The impacts of climate change, from deadly wildfires to increasingly debilitating hurricanes, are battering the US, and the danger of more such catastrophes is worsening.
China may want to rethink its 'Made in China 2025' program before it becomes a problem for its own domestic economy.
G20 countries applied 40 new trade restrictive measures between mid-May and mid-October, covering around $663 billion of trade, the World Trade Organisation said.
President Donald Trump's Thanksgiving began with an all-caps tweet: "HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!" Minutes later, he tweeted of potential "bedlam, chaos, injury and death".
Brokers say asking banks to redesign the mortgage broking system is "like asking the fox to design the hen house".
With the holiday season around the corner, here's what you can do to keep your guests and fellow owners happy.
Home care providers have until the end of the month to publish pricing information but it will be a further six months before you can compare costs online.
The Perth billionaire started work at the age of 14 and built a $4 billion fortune from humble beginnings as a milk bar owner.
Youth detention conditions in the Northern Territory are little changed, even after the royal commission, barrister John Lawrence tells Lunch with the AFR.
An accountant whose offices were raided over the Plutus tax fraud has been sentenced to jail for knowingly laundering drug money.
Professor Aaron Chatterji forces his students to take and defend controversial positions that real CEOs confront while under attack from President Donald Trump.
The maestro measures the success of a performance by the absence of noise at the end.
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