BFCSA Blog

  Posted by Houses and Holes in Banks on November 14, 2012 | 25 comments   Congratulations to Cameron Clyne of NAB for last night’s Lowy Lecture, in which he called for a Son of Wallis Inquiry specifically aimed at addressing Australia’s addiction to offshore wholesale funding. In a strangely blunt and at times in-eloquent speech, Clyne nonetheless made perfect sense:   Australian banks have significantly reduced exposure in recent years and we have sat out of the offshore markets for extended periods when spreads were wide and credit demand was low. But our banks still regularly feature in the top 10 of global issuance which is disproportionate given we represent only two per cent of global GDP. We are reluctant to further increase that position but we do need to move towards more stable balance sheet settings required by regulators. Read on .... http://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2012/11/nab-calls-for-bank-inquiry-aimed-at-funding/   COMMENT The commenters don't agree that this is...

It only took six years for Tony Mokbel, a suburban pizza maker worth less than $100,000, to be rolling in dough. Source: Herald Sun THE boss of the National Australia Bank has admitted its multi-million-dollar relationship with drugs boss Tony Mokbel was not acceptable. Cameron Clyne said he would examine how the NAB loaned Mokbel millions of dollars to invest in property and expensive cars at a time his reported taxable income was $160 a week and when police were closing in on his drug empire. The Herald Sun told yesterday how in documents released this week by the Supreme Court it was revealed that between 1996 and his arrest in 2001, Mokbel amassed a portfolio of more than 20 properties, financed by loans from the NAB and cash from his amphetamines business. Read on .... http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/national-australia-bank-chief-admits-banks-relationship-with-drug-baron-tony-mokbel-was-unacceptable/story-e6frea6u-1226452943587...