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Westpac taken to court over insider trading By Malavika Santhebennur 07 May 2021
ASIC has begun proceedings against the major bank for insider trading and breaches of its licensee obligations during the privatisation of Ausgrid.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has commenced civil proceedings in the Federal Court against Westpac for insider trading, unconscionable conduct, and breaches of its Australian financial services licensee (AFSL) obligations.
The allegations are related to Westpac’s role in executing a $12-billion interest rate swap transaction with a consortium of AustralianSuper and a group of IFM entities.
The transaction occurred on 20 October 2016, and was related to the $16 billion privatisation of a majority stake in electricity provider Ausgrid by the NSW governmen
Westpac results at a glance
Westpac results at a glance
04 May 2021 3:49AM
Westpac reported a net profit of A$3.4 billion for the six months to March – an increase of 189.2 per cent over the previous corresponding period. Cash earnings were $3.5 billion.
The increase was due to a big turnaround in impairments, with the bank booking an impairment benefit, and a big reduction in notable items.
Income: Net interest income of $8.3 billion was down 7.3 per cent, compared with $9 billion of net interest income in the previous corresponding period. Including fee income, wealth management and insurance income and trading income, total net operating income was $10.7 billion – up a little from $10.6 billion in the previous corresponding period.