Westpac Banking Corporation News

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AUSTRALIA'S big four banks are facing write-downs totalling almost $250 million in the wake of Hastie Group's collapse into receivership at the weekend.

There is no free lunch in investing, so these stocks come with a catch or two. First, many are tough to buy in the United States.

May 24 Fitch Ratings has affirmed Westpac Lenders Mortgage Insurance Limited's Insurer Financial Strength Ratings at 'AA-'. The Outlook is Stable.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia has begun a global search for candidates to fill the big hole that will be left by outgoing retail banking services group executive Ross McEwan.

Robert Rennie, Sydney-based chief currency strategist at Westpac Banking Corp., talks about the outlook for the euro, the Japanese yen and the Australian dollar.

After helping to launder millions of dollars stolen from Westpac after a banking error, Kara Hurring lived on the taxpayer.

THE woman dubbed the "runaway millionairess" claims she knew nothing of the $NZ10 million Westpac mistakenly credited to her partner's bank account until she saw it on the news in China.

The organisation, which provides people with access to technology and training to improve their employment prospects, has already received the first batch of laptops to pilot their processes.

In minutes of its May 1 meeting released yesterday, the RBA explained that it lowered the benchmark by 50 basis points instead of the more widely forecast 25 points to ensure consumers borrowed at an "appropriate" level.

Australian consumer confidence hovered near the weakest level this year and wage growth slowed, underpinning bets the central bank will cut interest rates next month to the lowest level in more than two years.

ON TRIAL: Kara Hurring is on trial in Rotorua on 30 counts of theft, dishonestly using a bank card and money laundering.

Australia's "Big Four" banks face increasing scrutiny from both the International Monetary Fund and ratings firms as Europe's financial problems drive up offshore funding costs just as domestic growth stutters.

10.39am: Westpac has cut its interest rates on its short-term fixed-rate home loans by up to 20 basis points.

MELBOURNE May 14, 2012--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services today assigned its preliminary ratings to the class A and class B prime residential mortgage-backed securities to be issued by BNY Trust Company of Australia Ltd.

ANZ has cut its standard variable interest rate by 37 basis points to 7.05 per cent, 10 days after the Reserve Bank cut rates to 3.75 per cent.

Westpac senior economist Matthew Hassan and the University of Western Sydney's applied finance director Tom Valentine were the guest speakers, as they have been at previous years' breakfasts.

Bill Evans, chief economist at Westpac Banking Corp., talks about the outlook for Australia's annual budget, economy and Reserve Bank of Australia monetary policy.

The euro traded 0.6 percent from a three-month low as Greece 's political leaders meet for a second day in a bid to form a new government, after an election raised questions about the country's membership of the euro bloc.

Australia's big banks' interest margins sat at least 12 basis points above the lows seen during the global financial crisis in the first half of fiscal 2012, figures from the central bank showed on Tuesday.