Briefs: ASIC concerned with RBA leak, household savings declines, falls in car lease and project fin

Banking Day staff
  • ASIC will investigate the possibility of data leaks from the Reserve Bank causing a sharp spike in the dollar moments before Tuesday's announcement that left interest rates on hold, The Australian has reported . The currency rose from about US77.7c to about US78.2c in the minute before the official announcement.While so-called "high-frequency trading" through the use of sophisticated computer algorithms may have contributed to the volatility surrounding the Reserve Bank's interest rate decision, analysts said it was more likely to have been caused by a lack of liquidity.

  • The household saving ratio eased nine per cent in seasonally adjusted terms over the December 2014 quarter, down from 9.3 per cent in the September quarter, the national accounts show. On a trend basis the saving ratio was 9.1 per cent in the December quarter compared with 9.4 per cent in the September quarter.

  • The Reserve Bank of Australia has announced a review of card payments regulation, which could result in banks receiving lower card fees and airlines being prevented from charging excessive surcharges when customers pay for tickets online, according to the AFR , citing an RBA paper released on Wednesday afternoon. Submissions on the inquiry are due with Treasury on March 31, while the RBA has asked for submissions on its "issues paper" by April 24.

  • The Fitch Ratings Dinkum ABS Index annualised net-loss rate for car leases underlying Australian asset backed securitisations fell nine basis points to 0.37 per cent in the quarter ended 31 December 2014. Fitch said this was seasonal, and it expected net losses to rise over the next 12 months to 0.5 per cent, with losses from less seasoned transactions and the effects of rising unemployment beginning to flow through. In 4Q14 consumer sentiment and unemployment deteriorated, while falling fuel prices "may have eased serviceability pressures", Fitch said.

  • Britain has won a landmark legal battle against the European Central Bank, confirming the role of the City of London in Europe's single market, the Financial Times reports. At issue was the ECB's so-called "location policy" which stated clearing houses, for prudential reasons, should be eurozone based to handle euro-denominated business. In a ruling yesterday, the EU general court annulled this policy, observing it went "beyond mere oversight by intervening in the regulation of [clearing houses'] activity", and that the "ECB lacks the competence necessary to regulate the activities of securities clearing systems as its competence is limited to payment systems alone ..."

  • A report out of Moody's Investors Service London office on default rates for project finance bank loans indicated the trend remains on a downward trajectory. "The ten-year cumulative default rate for project finance bank loans is 6.4 per cent, down from the 8.1 per cent in our previous study published in March 2014," said Andrew Davison, a Moody's senior vice president and author of the report.