Briefs: Crown Resorts mulls retail hybrid notes, ANZ's Smith relents on Basel 4, new P2P player, ban 13 March 2015 4:44PM Banking Day staff Briefs, Word has it that Crown Resorts is about to announce a new ASX listed hybrid note issue, probably very similar in structure to notes it issued in 2012. Retail investors may be tempted to make the most of any subordinated note issue from Crown because non-financial company issuance has been very rare since 2012, and there could be a dearth of ASX listed issuance for quite some time. Australian banks will not be able to avoid building higher levels of equity as global regulators attempt to increase the resilience of the world's financial system, ANZ Banking Group chief executive Mike Smith has told CNBC. "Things have got better, but I think there is still a concern, particularly in the political environment, that banks are not strong enough to withstand a similar [crisis] that would happen again," Smith told the Squawk Box program, as the AFR has reported. The banking and finance services industry has reported a new job growth rate of 17 per cent over the year to February 2015 according to data released by SEEK in its latest Labour Market Report. There was a 55.3 per cent jump in new job advertisements for analysis and reporting roles, and a 44 per cent jump for corporate and institutional banking jobs. Compliance and risk roles were up 42.6 per cent and funds management roles up 40.7 per cent). The most difficult roles to fill currently in the industry are six-figure salary positions in management, business banking and compliance and risk. Even when their bonuses are linked to employing more women, Goldman Sachs' investment bankers - who are overwhelmingly male - resist promoting women. Very often male supervisers see promoting women as too risky, or are simply biased against it, Goldman Sachs' co-head of human capital management in Asia, Kate Aitken, told a a Boss/CT Partners International Womens Day lunch. She described the issue of gender equality in investment banking as "hand-to-hand" combat. Greg Roebuck's Carsales.com has taken a stake in peer-to-peer lender Ratesetter, becoming the latest high profile investor to back a major "disrupter" trying to take a bigger slice of the banks' mega profits, The Australian has reported. The business was set up by Britain's RateSetter group, the biggest P2P player in Europe that has matched $1bn of loans. The British parent still owns 20 per cent of the Australian arm, with local management, led by chief Daniel Foggo, holding about 45 per cent. According to Macquarie's banking analysts, almost $30bn of the big four banks' revenue is under threat from "disrupters", most immediately in payments and then lending disintermediation through the likes of P2P. National Australia Bank has raised A$1.75 billion of funding through an issue of residential mortgage-backed securities, paying a margin of 80 basis points on the top tranche notes Pricing of the $1.6 billion of A notes was the same as the price Commonwealth Bank paid on the top tranche of the $2 billion RMBS deal it did last month. NAB did not disclose the pricing on the B and C notes. Commonwealth Bank of Australia and National Australia bank were top-tier members of the "club" deal, which saw 11 banks tip in $US2.5 billion ($3.3 billion) or 43 per cent of the purchase price. Sources told the AFR that this involvement was a sure sign the big Australian banks will support the country's big infrastructure fund managers IFM, QIC Limited and Hastings Funds Management as they build offices and hunt assets in North America and Europe. It also showed, once again, that it is not just pension and sovereign wealth funds keen to buy into regulated assets, the AFR has suggested. The Australian Bankers' Association has released new guidance for customers in financial difficulty, along with examples of the supporting documentation needed to demonstrate hardship. The ABA said use of standardised forms helps improve interactions between banks and financial counsellors acting on behalf of customers. Financial counselling is a public service - funded by a grant of around A$20 million in the Federal Budget - which assists clients deal with problems such as multiple debts from banks and other lenders, such as payday lenders, and with other creditors (including retailers, utilities and telecommunications companies), while managing complex financial and social problems. Over the last thirteen years, self-managed superannuation funds have maintained a clear lead over the other major types of funds, based on 15,000 people interviewed by Roy Morgan Research in the six months to January 2015. SMSFs scored a satisfaction rating of 77.3 per cent, compared to Industry funds with 59.0 per cent and retail funds on 56.3 per cent. At the top end of the scale, where SMSFs are making major inroads, people with A$700,000 or more in superannuation account for only 2.4 per cent of people with superannuation but have 15.2 per cent of total balances.