Briefs: Direct Money commences trading on the ASX, CEFC to take advice on mandate, BOQ appoints gene 14 July 2015 4:07PM Banking Day staff Briefs, Consumer lender DirectMoney commenced trading on the Australian Securities Exchange yesterday, following the completion of an A$11.2 million capital raising and reverse takeover of Basper Ltd. The company will turn its attention to securing loan origination partners and investors in its funding vehicles. The stock performed poorly, falling 65 per cent to a closing price of 17.5 cents a share. The Clean Energy Finance Corporation released a statement yesterday saying it was taking advice in relation to a draft mandate it received from the Government on June 25. It said an investment mandate was the "means by which the Government of the day provides instruction as to how the corporation can make investments, providing it does not have the purpose of directing the corporation to make or not make a particular investment and is not inconsistent with the Act." It said the CEFC board must be consulted on any proposed new mandate. Bank of Queensland has appointed Michelle Thomsen as its general counsel and company secretary. Thomsen moves to BOQ from Suncorp where she was associate general counsel. When asked how many transactions would be needed to keep a Westpac branch open in Ruatoria in New Zealand, the bank responded "they didn't know", claimed New Zealand's finance sector union, FIRST Union, yesterday. Despite a campaign to save the Ruatoria branch, including a petition carrying 3000 signatures, bank bosses have confirmed that it will close. Hiring activity within the finance industry is not expected to increase over the next 12 months. According to the 2015/16 Michael Page Australia Salary and Employment Outlook, 67 per cent of finance sector employers do not expect to increase headcount in the next 12 months. Despite this, 77 per cent of financial employers will be rewarding their staff with a salary increase, with 60 per cent of employers paying a modest increase of between three and five per cent. Financial incentives are mostly limited to salary increases, with the majority of employers not rewarding their staff with a bonus this year (54 per cent).