Monthly Archives: October 2016

Monday, May 15, 2006

Australian senator Barnaby Joyce (Nationals, Queensland) has moved to oppose the government’s planned changes to the country’s petrol retail industry. The National Party, of which Senator Joyce is a member, governs Australia in coalition with the Liberal Party.

The government plans to amend regulations governing the petrol industry to allow oil companies to own more than five percent of petrol stations. Senator Joyce has given notice to disallow regulations that would force the government to debate them in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Senator Joyce said the proposed changes would hurt the smaller retailers in the industry. “What we need is protection for independents and mum and dad businesses,” he told the Australian Financial Review.

Senator Joyce is concerned that the proposed regulations would start takeovers of smaller retailers by oil companies. “Obviously the sites they’re going to get are the sites that are controlled by independents or independent franchisees, what I would term the mum and dad operators,” he said.

“In 1980 we thought it was a good thing for there to be wider participation in the retail market by mum and dad operators and I still think that’s a just cause,” said Senator Joyce.

It is not the first time Senator Joyce has gone against his party’s legislation. Senator Joyce refused to support a government bill changing Australia’s trade practices law in October 2005 and voted against voluntary student unionism legislation in December 2005.

Friday, April 22, 2005

Ireland’s National Pensions Reserve Fund (NPRF) has posted a 2.4% return for the first quarter (9.6% annualized). On March 31, the funds value stood at €12.3bn, a rise of €290m (excluding state contributions) since December 31.

Donal Geaney, the fund’s chairman, told the press that growth in the past quarter had been driven by the Fund’s European equity investments.

Mr Geaney, former Élan CEO, has pursued a policy of diversification since February of this year, with the stated aim of placing a larger amount of the funds assets in companies with small market capitalizations and in property funds.

The fund was set up by the National Pensions Reserve Fund Act, 2000 to partially meet the expected rise in Irish pension costs from 2025 onwards.

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Ian Narev, the CEO of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, this morning “unreservedly” apologised to clients who lost money in a scandal involving the bank’s financial planning services arm.

Last week, a Senate enquiry found financial advisers from the Commonwealth Bank had made high-risk investments of clients’ money without the clients’ permission, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars lost. The Senate enquiry called for a Royal Commission into the bank, and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

Mr Narev stated the bank’s performance in providing financial advice was “unacceptable”, and the bank was launching a scheme to compensate clients who lost money due to the planners’ actions.

In a statement Mr Narev said, “Poor advice provided by some of our advisers between 2003 and 2012 caused financial loss and distress and I am truly sorry for that. […] There have been changes in management, structure and culture. We have also invested in new systems, implemented new processes, enhanced adviser supervision and improved training.”

An investigation by Fairfax Media instigated the Senate inquiry into the Commonwealth Bank’s financial planning division and ASIC.

Whistleblower Jeff Morris, who reported the misconduct of the bank to ASIC six years ago, said in an article for The Sydney Morning Herald that neither the bank nor ASIC should be in control of the compensation program.