ASX notches up another record as Telstra shines
Australian shares hit another record high on Thursday as investors piled into Telstra after a broker upgrade.
BOQ to be grilled on possible AUSTRAC breaches
Macquarie, Bank of Queensland, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank and Suncorp will be asked how they will avoid a Westpac-style scandal, at parliamentary hearings in Canberra on Friday.
Private equity are the good guys: Sir Roger Carr
The chairman of UK giant BAE Systems says defence spending will keep rising around the world, as he also defends the reputation of private equity.
Westpac appoints CBA's auditor to fix risk management
Former APRA chairman Jeff Carmichael will oversee the Westpac audit and said "the proliferation of financial crime has increased exponentially".
China warns of retaliation for Trump law
Beijing has warned the United States would shoulder the consequences of China's counter measures if it continued to "act arbitrarily" in regards to Hong Kong.
IOOF made 'swift' progress after Hayne: CEO
Renato Mota told his first AGM as IOOF chief executive that the embattled wealth manager has made more royal commission progress than its peers.
Cannon-Brookes pulls plug on Fair Dinkum Power company
The software billionaire set up the company to back renewable energy as a rebuke of Prime Minister Scott Morrison, but he's deregistered it.
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WESTPAC BREACH
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
The $10b question facing Westpac investors
Proxy recommendations underscore the difficult choice between accountability and stability for investors in the crisis-hit bank.
Westpac grants retail investors an exit option
Westpac has announced a withdrawal option for investors who applied to take part in the share purchase plan the bank launched just two weeks ago.
A $2b fine could trigger Westpac capital raising
Analysts have downgraded Westpac earnings estimates and warned that a hefty fine could force it to raise more capital and tipped a "several hundred million dollar" compliance spend.
- Exclusive
- AUSTRAC crackdown
Westpac papers reveal trail of failure
After junior staff uncovered reporting breaches, the bank took over a year to work out what was happening and tell the regulator.
- Exclusive
- AUSTRAC crackdown
ASIC to investigate Westpac's $2.5b capital raising
The bank and underwriters face regulatory scrutiny over whether they adequately informed investors of alleged money-laundering violations before selling more than $2 billion in shares.
Companies
OZ sidles up to the big brazilian
OZ Minerals says its budding friendship with Brazilian miner Vale does not extend to its South Australian mines, nor its share register.
CommInsure hit with $700,000 criminal fine
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia subsidiary saved itself from a maximum penalty of $1.85 million by making an early guilty plea.
- Exclusive
- Renewables
Fortescue CEO Gaines declares hydrogen export ambitions
Elizabeth Gaines said exports of "green" hydrogen are a key opportunity for the iron ore exporter, building on its infrastructure capability and strong links to customers in Asia.
Business capital expenditure disappoints
The lower expenditure number "poses material downside risks to the forecasts of the RBA and the Federal Budget".
HUB24 snares former ASIC regulator
Ruth Stringer's path is similar to that of former ASIC official Michael Saadat, who left to head up Afterpay Touch's regulatory affairs division.
- Analysis
- Inside China
Aviator takes aircraft and aerobatics to China
Aussie farmers, builders and pilots are wowing crowds at China's airshows with an aerobatics team that emerged from a business building planes.
Wagners wins $35m Adani Carmichael contract
Queensland construction group Wagners will operate a quarry that will supply materials for Adani's controversial Carmichael coal mine.
Markets
- Live
- Markets Live
ASX edges higher to another record close
The ASX has closed slightly higher on Thursday lead by gains from Telstra.
Super to own two-thirds of the ASX
Superannuation funds are forecast to own nearly two-thirds of the Australian sharemarket within 20 years, by which time they could appoint their own directors to company boards, Deloitte says.
- Opinion
- Paris Agreement
China's coal mania is alarming, yet there's a big twist
Xi Jinping's industrial machine accounts for half the world's coal consumption. He is now adding a large coal plant every two weeks, writes Ambrose Evans-Pritchard.
Seven Questions with Roger Montgomery
AFR Markets Live checks in with Roger Montgomery about the one WAAAX stock he expects to outperform, and who he thinks will want to buy NBN Co.
Tyro IPO upsized, bids at top of range
Tyro Payments has upsized the amount it is looking to raise at its IPO, as management tests investor appetite during a global roadshow spruiking the business.
Opinion
What the government wants from business
Scott Morrison calls it regulation 'congestion busting' and has put Ben Morton, his close ally and assistant minister, in charge of delivering it for business.
Columnist
RBA spells out perils of QE funny money
Unconventional monetary policy would undermine the national prosperity that depends on structural reform.
Editorial
China's coal mania is alarming, yet there's a big twist
Xi Jinping's industrial machine accounts for half the world's coal consumption. He is now adding a large coal plant every two weeks, writes Ambrose Evans-Pritchard.
Contributor
Due process is crucial to accountability
Sacking the CEO isn't enough. Making sure that all wrongdoers face the consequences is the key to cultural change.
Contributor
Liberals must recover the spirit of the 'dries'
'Crazy brave' tax and workplace reform are vital to boost Australia's productivity.
Contributor
Uncle Sam must support our rare earths
America would cease depending on Chinese supply of critical minerals if the US military signed up with Australian miners.
Contributor
Politics
Tony Abbott calls for sanctions on China, if HK deteriorates
Former prime minister Tony Abbott has called for targeted sanctions on China if Beijing 'cracks down' and compromises the independence of Hong Kong.
Gruen named Australian Bureau of Statistics boss
David Gruen, one of the most senior economics advisers to the federal government, will replace David Kalisch as the Australian Statistician.
Sydney lockout laws to go in January
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced on Thursday that the controversial laws, enacted in 2014, would be wound back everywhere in the city except the Kings Cross precinct.
Public service headcount shrinks to 13-year low
The number of bureaucrats in the Australian public service has dipped below 150,000 for the first time in 13 years.
Lambie makes mystery demand to back repeal of medevac laws
Senator's announcement is a potential double boost for the government – its efforts to get support for its union-busting bill are also close to paying off.
SPONSORED
World
Netanyahu hints at end to security co-operation if Corbyn is elected
"What do you think?" the Israeli Prime Minister told the Daily Telegraph when asked if Israel would continue its security relationship with Britain if Corbyn was elected
Japan's retail sales slump the most since 2015 as tax hike bites
Japan's retail sales tumbled at their fastest pace in more than four and a half years in October as a sales tax hike prompted consumers to cut spending.
Christine Lagarde wants key role for climate change in ECB review
The agenda of the ECB’s review has yet to be finalised, but two people involved said the environment was likely to feature in the first such comprehensive review for the institution since 2003.
Boris Johnson well out in front in election race
YouGov's most comprehensive poll, which tipped the result in 2017, suggests a pretty comfortable Conservative majority.
A rising star has emerged from impeachment hearings
Adam Schiff has taken the lead in tense hearings, making an enemy of Donald Trump, but earning the praise of colleagues.
Property
Weiss falls short in Cromwell AGM showdown
The corporate brawl with Singapore-based investor ARA Asset Management has been won by incumbents, despite some bruising.
- Exclusive
- Property prices
Window opens for buyers in ‘liveable’ suburbs
New report on affordability hotspots measures suburbs through the lenses of affordability, liveability and potential to gain in value.
Shareholder showdown for Cromwell board berth
Both sides have prosecuted an unusually intense effort to win support ahead of the AGM, lobbying institutional investors and fighting a minor tussle in court over proxy information.
Sexual harassment at McGrath left unchecked
A McGrath agent has allegedly harassed staff and employees for years but still works at the firm.
How one of Australia's biggest landlords fixed its image
Defence Housing Australia has been working hard to reinvent its image from a landlord of unappealing houses in undesirable locations to a serious competitor in the private market.
Wealth
- Opinion
- SMSFs
New FASEA code could spell trouble for SMSF trustees
Changed adviser rules could lead to self-managed superannuation funds missing out on valuable advice.
- Opinion
- Flat Chat
How to deal with nightmare neighbours
Renovators and party animals can make life hell, but try not to explode ... compromise and communication always beat confrontation.
Buy Westpac for a week - then get out: WAM tells shareholders
The fund manager says big miners BHP, Rio and Fortescue are all set for better times but investors in the major banks are in for a rough ride.
Technology
Forrest urges government to treat tech giants as publishers
Companies such as Facebook and Google should be held to the advertising standards under which traditional forms of media trade.
BHP to mine tech start-ups for innovation advantages
CEO-elect Mike Henry wants to forge deeper partnerships with mining equipment and technology companies to harness innovation that will give BHP a leg-up.
Audi to cut 9500 German jobs in switch to EVs
Audi plans to eliminate roughly 15 per cent of its German workforce to lift earnings as Volkswagen's largest profit maker pushes ahead with a restructuring plan to help adapt to the costly transition to electric cars.
Work & Careers
- Opinion
- Legal industry
Legal products: A new trick for old dogs
Law firms need to rethink their business model to make the most of the technology products market.
Want a CEO who'll succeed? Do an IQ test
Intelligence is one of five traits that should be mandatory for chief executives, leadership adviser Geoff Campbell insists.
Life & Luxury
- Opinion
- Gadgets
Gadgets gift guide for men
Yes, he might have every manner of thing, but does he have the insanely overcomplicated version of that thing?
The best luxury Christmas gifts for men
When it comes to your favourite man, what's $100,000 for a telly or $890 for a nice fountain pen?
Why this exec is a lounge lizard
Stuart Biggs, boss of property developer Buildcap, swears by working in the comfort of the airline lounge.
The jewellery people buy when price is no object
High jewellery, the stones-and-metal version of haute couture, is the ultimate expression of art for a jeweller and a facet of the market available only to a privileged few.
High-end art dealer accused of defrauding Basquiat investor
A blue-chip art dealer is facing a worldwide freeze on his assets amid allegations that he defrauded an investor in a Jean-Michel Basquiat painting.
