Capital Gains

ANZ’s tech chief is leaving just as banks around the world rethink who should lead AI, with JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon saying the function is simply too important to sit under tech.

As banks chase efficiency and direct customer relationships, AI agents are emerging as a possible lever for transforming lending, advice and digital commerce.

Private credit targets higher returns through higher risk. But research shows investors haven’t seen value over the full cycle since the GFC.

The major financial services regulators are becoming more vocal and taking more onerous action, citing increasing complacency on cultural and compliance issues.

Commonwealth Bank CEO Matt Comyn's success in building a strong team inevitably means they will be targeted by rivals, given only one can eventually become chief executive.

Little attention is paid to the trading arms of retail banks. Yet they have provided convenient cover at just the right time as they continue to grow.

Matos begins as ANZ CEO with a focus on risk, delivery and continuity, aiming to speed up key projects without shifting core strategy.

For a new chief executive, Anthony Miller delivered a very unsurprising Westpac half, with modest numbers and a positive slant on the outlook for banks.

The regulator is liaising with the Customer Owned Banking Association to get feedback from mutual banks on a new supervisory model that took the industry by surprise.

2024 was extremely tough for fintechs. But it was a dream compared with 2025, with Trump's chaotic policy measures creating havoc for those looking to raise or do deals.

Long-term bank investors seem untroubled by scandals in the industry, whether it be royal commissions, money laundering, management ructions or regulatory penalties.

ANZ announced today that incoming CEO Nuno Matos will start early. He joins at a critical stage for tech transformation in banking, with Westpac and CBA both accelerating their own projects.

The recent flurry of management changes at Australia's big banks feeds into the regulator's desire to have more oversight of board and executive appointments and succession planning.

Westpac has poached National Australia Bank's CFO, triggering a wave of executive changes at a time when NAB is under pressure in business banking.

For more than three decades, NAB has been Australia’s leading business bank. Now, market goliath and retail banking leader CBA is closing in.

Westpac’s UNITE tech overhaul is Anthony Miller’s to own. As the bank streamlines, sub-brands like St George Bank and BankSA may not make the cut.

The limited scale of domestic markets has led Australia's super funds to boost US investments, but the new Trump administration and greater scrutiny of private assets present major risks.

CEO Alexis George tells Capital Brief that AMP's concerted campaign of simplification and finding the right business mix is nearing its end.

Banks have largely driven the boom in private credit by pulling out of higher risk lending. Macquarie, however, is expanding its bet with highly structured lending to its clients.

As cybercrime grows, governments, regulators and the financial services sector need to devote more resources to the problem. But where will the money to pay for that investment come from?

The submissions to the RBA’s payments review offer a wide range of opinions on surcharging — but critical issues remain overlooked.

Bank stocks look overpriced on the fundamentals, but external forces keep them buoyant. What will it take to prick the bubble?

Merchant payments are a low-margin, capital-intensive game. ANZ sold its stake to Worldline for efficiency — but now it’s looking at buying it back.

External CEO appointments typically reflect a board wanting change. ANZ chair says that's not the case with Shayne Elliott's replacement, Nuno Matos.

In the latest of multiple reviews of payments and surcharging in Australia, industry seems to have only one view in common: it's a mess.

Generative AI is becoming entrenched in financial services, but it remains far from transformational and banks are yet to see it drive revenue.

At the region's biggest fintech festival in Singapore, quantum computing and tokenisation were hot topics. But the chatter about last year's star, AI, was notably subdued.

The bank is promising a simpler tech platform, lower risk and Suncorp acquisition benefits — but with margins tight, costs rising and competition fierce, will a new story help?

Late-term CEOs rarely report anything that would damage their legacy. Peter King, who hands a stable, if still challenged, Westpac to his successor, is no exception.

Jefferies' poaching of a veteran banking analyst from Goldman Sachs shows their Wall St rivalry has well and truly arrived in Australia — and it's massively boosting pay packets for the lucky targets.

Despite yield pressure and asset valuation concerns, there's no shrinkage of the appetite for private credit, with major superannuation funds leading the push in Australia.

Investors are eager to sell expensive bank shares. With no major issues in sight, a China-driven switch to mining stocks seemed possible. It hasn't held up.

CBA’s 7% slump marks a shift as funds move from banks to miners, leaving super funds holding the bag. Have peak bank valuations come and gone?

This year's edition of Intersekt cut to the core of fintech’s biggest debates, from founder mode and manager mode to the evolving corporate-fintech partnerships shaping the industry’s future.

You wouldn't know it from the sentiment and insolvency data, but business banking is the hottest area of competition, and not just based on the price of lending. Citi, for one, is targeting businesses with offshore ambition.

Australia's high bank share prices have much to do with consistency and safe haven status. Westpac's very predictable decision to appoint Anthony Miller as its new CEO won't damage that reputation.

Are small merchants cross subsidising large ones for digital payment costs? Who should pay for cash? Who's making money from surcharging? The payments debate is heating up.

APRA is hiking ANZ’s capital penalty by 50% over its bond scandal, but even more damning is the regulator's frustration with the bank's slow pace on risk management and cultural issues.

The bank's trading update today completed a picture of a sector in good health. But bank shares remain extremely expensive — even for the banks themselves.