‘Open Finance’ named as next CDR priority

The federal government announced plans to build upon open banking and expand the Consumer Data Right into the finance sector.

Personal datasets orbiting superannuation, general insurance, and non-bank lending are on track to become exchangeable under the Consumer Data Right, with the federal government confirming the finance sector as its “next priority area to grow” in its roll-out of the data-sharing initiative. 

February

RBA governor defends cash rate forecasting

Speaking to the House of Representatives standing committee on economics for its hearing on monetary policy on 11 February, the governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), Philip Lowe, was questioned on the accuracy of the bank’s forecasting given an increasing divergence with market economists.

“There are always going to be forecast errors; we don’t have a crystal ball. What we try to do is explain to the public the forces that are driving our forecasts and provide some general details,” Mr Lowe said.

“We’re going to be right sometimes and we’re going to be wrong sometimes, and last year things turned out better. That, in some people’s eyes, has damaged our credibility. I accept that, but we don’t have a crystal ball and we’re living through incredibly difficult times and having to process in real-time the effects of shocks that we’ve not dealt with before. 

“We get some things right and some things wrong.”

March

Federal government offers grants, as ‘flooding disaster’ escalates 

The federal government announced financial support for flood-impacted victims, as major flooding continued in South-East Queensland and the NSW North Coast.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Queenslanders impacted by the unfolding “flooding disaster” can apply for up to $1,000 per eligible adult and $400 per eligible child, as part of the government’s Disaster Recovery Payment.

The payment was a “one-off”, non-means-tested payment and was made available to eligible people in impacted local government areas who have suffered a “significant loss”, such as a severely damaged or destroyed home or serious injury.

La Trobe CEO exits after $1.5bn sale

The chief of La Trobe Financial announced he would depart from his role after selling his stake in the non-bank lender to Canadian group Brookfield Asset Management.

He was replaced by La Trobe Financial deputy chief executive and chief investment officer, Chris Andrews.

April

Government boosts max property prices for home guarantees

Prime Minister Scott Morrison promised higher property price caps for new buyers under the Home Guarantee Scheme from July.

The program was also expanded to 50,000 places per year in the federal budget.

Palmer pledges 3% mortgage rate cap

Australian mining magnate and United Australia Party chairman, Clive Palmer, declared his party’s economic policy for housing, revealing its intention to introduce a 3 per cent cap on home loan rates for the next five years should it gain power. 

May

Election 2022: What’s next for housing? 

After Australians across the nation took to the polls to elect members of the 47th Parliament of Australia on 21 May, it was declared that the Australian Labor Party (ALP) had won the federal election.

The Australian Labor Party committed to bringing in a suite of policies designed to improve housing affordability and ownership.

‘Now was the right time’: RBA raises cash rate 

After the Reserve Bank raised rates for the first time in more than 10 years — elevating rates from emergency setting of 0.10 per cent to 0.35 per cent — governor Philip Lowe flagged more cash rate lifts would be on the way.

The move came two years earlier than the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) expected in its forecasts last year, as inflation has accelerated, surging to 5.1 per cent for the year to March, while underlying inflation hit 3.7 per cent.

June

Volt Bank announces it will exit banking industry

Neo-lender Volt Bank revealed it would be handing back customer deposits and exit the banking industry after the board “reviewed recent progress in capital raising initiatives globally which have been unsuccessful in raising sufficient additional funds to support the business”.

The neobank — which was the first Australian RADI — had over 6,000 customer deposit accounts and $106 million in total funds returned to customers at the time.

BNPL ‘debts’ to be included in DTI ratios: APRA 

The regulator announced that banks will need to include buy now, pay later and higher education debts when reporting debt-to-income ratios to the regulator from September.

The move came after APRA issued amendments to its prudential framework, making a number of changes to ensure banks were actively managing the risks within their loan portfolios.

July 

Suncorp Bank to be sold to ANZ

A share sale and purchase agreement was signed between Suncorp and ANZ.

The transaction was for a cash sale of Suncorp Bank to ANZ for $4.9 billion and included its $47 billion of home loans, $45 billion in deposits, and $11 billion in commercial loans.

It will see the bank continue to operate under the Suncorp Bank brand (pursuant to a licensing agreement between ANZ and the group for a period of five years following completion), with ANZ saying it intends to operate it as a separate business for a period of at least three years to sell its banking business.

Labor ‘won’t be revisiting RLOs’: Assistant Treasurer 

Labor was “gob-smacked” with proposals to repeal responsible lending obligations, with Stephen Jones MP saying the Albanese government would not revisit the matter.

The Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services, Stephen Jones MP (member for Whitlam), said: “[W]e were gob-smacked when the previous government … attempted to lift those obligations on banks.

“I am glad to say we were able to defeat those attempts in Opposition. So we won’t be revisiting RLOs in Government.” 

August

ASIC actions 1st DDO stop orders 

The watchdog utilised its design and distribution obligations powers for the first time, placing interim stop orders on three financial firms.

Interim stop orders were issued to Responsible Entity Services Limited (RES), UGC Global Alpha Limited and UGC Global Alpha Fund Limited after ASIC alleged that the three financial firms had deficiencies in their target market determination (TMD).

Latitude CEO to step down by August 2023 

The non-bank’s managing director and chief executive confirmed his resignation, with his exit to take effect by August’s end next year.

Mr Fahour commented that while this was a difficult decision, “now is the right time to prepare for my departure next year”. 

He said he would support the board as it plans for his successor. 

September

Aussie hits back at class action claims 

Aussie, ALI Group, and the FBAA have responded to news that Shine Lawyers is investigating a class action against the major brokerage on behalf of borrowers who were sold personal risk protection insurance by Aussie Home Loans.

Responding to the class action claims, ALI chief executive, Huy Truong, said the allegations about the worth of the policies were baseless.

New CEO and COO announced at Prime Capital

Pepper Money’s Malcolm Withers was named the new chief commercial officer of Prime Capital (effective October 2022) succeeding Steve Sampson, who will become CEO in January.

Mr Withers joined Prime Capital from Pepper Money, where he was leading the non-bank’s commercial real estate lending business. 

October

Budget 2022/23: What you need to know 

Treasurer Jim Chalmers delivered his first budget speech pledging reforms that will boost housing supply and encourage investment.

A key part of the federal budget was a new housing accord to build 1 million new homes over five years.

Heartland to acquire Challenger Bank 

Financial services group Heartland Group Holdings Limited (Heartland) announced it had signed a deal to acquire Challenger Bank (including its $89 million retail lending and $228 million of deposits), for around $36 million.

Heartland revealed that it would move to transfer its existing reverse mortgage and livestock businesses in Australia “to sit in or under Challenger Bank” once the deal completes.

November 

Shareholders approve bank merger 

Members of Greater Bank and Newcastle Permanent voted in favour of merging the two lenders together to form the Newcastle Greater Mutual Group Ltd.

The merger, which is expected to come into effect from 1 March 2023, will create a combined entity with nearly $21 billion in total assets and approximately 600,000 customers.

It will make the new group one of the largest customer-owned banking groups in Australia. 

Head of BOQ exits 

The board of Bank of Queensland Limited announced its current managing director and chief executive would depart, effective immediately, after forming a view that “different leadership is now required to ensure BOQ can continue to build a stronger and more resilient bank through future cycles”.

It later added that it was ‘suboptimal and de-stabilising’ for George Frazis to remain as BOQ head.

BOQ chairman, Patrick Allaway, stepped into the role as CEO. 

December

‘Ho, Ho ... oh no!’ RBA announces December rate rise

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) called its eighth consecutive cash-rate increase for 2022, taking the official cash rate to 3.10 per cent.

The extra 25 bps from November’s 2.85 per cent rate was hardly a shock to many economists, with 3.10 per cent — the highest level since 2012 — to stand until the RBA board next meets on Tuesday, 7 February 2023.

New bank comes into being after receiving ADI licence

Alex Bank was granted a licence to operate as an authorised deposit-taking institution (ADI) by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). It had originally received its restricted ADI (RADI) licence in July 2021 but has now met the conditions to move to a full licence.

The lender currently offers unsecured personal loans and savings accounts (with secured personal loans and term deposits set to launch in due course).

It had been growing its broker partnerships during 2022 and now has access to a large cohort of brokers following a range of aggregator partnerships, including AFG, Loan Market, Fintelligence brokers, and Platform Finance.