The number of Australians who own their home outright has fallen significantly over the last 25 years, but this drop is a symptom of a 50-year trend, CoreLogic has said.

ASIC has fined Westpac $127,250 for failing to correctly report information about more than 100,000 over-the-counter derivatives transactions.

The Australian Prudential Regulatory Association has completed its transition to a new organisational structure with the appointment of two new executive general managers.

EXCLUSIVE REA Group chief executive Tracey Fellows has outlined how the $8.7-billion company will build a national mortgage business with a big four bank and two major brokerages.

The corporate regulator has released its position on whether advisers that do not meet the criteria in s923A of the Corporations Act can call themselves “non-aligned” or “independently-owned”, following years of lobbying on the issue.

The Bank for International Settlements has been forced to “shout a bit louder” about excessive debt levels in its latest report, according to a banking analyst.

The major bank has followed its peers by today announcing rate increases across its interest-only home loans.

An industry association has questioned whether the ACCC is using its new powers to hold banks accountable over the latest round of out-of-cycle rate hikes.

South Australia’s state-based version of the federal bank levy is unlikely to be the last tax increase for Australia’s major banks, says UBS.

A leading economist has downplayed the latest round of rate hikes, reminding investors that they can get up to half of the increase back from the “tax man”.