Spanish banking major Banco Santander SA is exiting the Australian market, not long after the bank opened its first branch in Australia in 2012 in a bid to increase its presence in the Asia-Pacific region, The Australian reports. According to the latest APRA figures, Santander had around A$160 million worth of loans on its books at the end of June, mostly lent out to businesses. Last year the bank was part of syndicates lending to Glencore Australia, Orica Finance and DP World Australia. Greater Bank Limited, rated BBB+ by S&P, is marketing a new line of 3-year fixed income securities, due for redemption in August 2019. The issue is expected to be priced by later today (ie, 24 August), with the standard "subject to market conditions" caveat. The lead manager is CBA. In the NSW Supreme Court on Tuesday Macquarie was fined $400,000 after admitting to the corporate regulator it mismanaged van Eyk. Macquarie Group ignored the early warning signs of van Eyk's $30 million investment in a Cayman Islands-based account that eventually led to the collapse of the once respected fund manager, the AFR reports. It must also pay $200,000 towards the Australian Securities and Investments Commission's legal fees. S&P Global Ratings yesterday affirmed its issuer credit ratings on Rabobank New Zealand Ltd. Rabobank New Zealand at A/A-1. The outlook on Rabobank New Zealand remains stable, mirroring that of its parent, Cooperatieve Rabobank UA. Rabobank New Zealand's main business lines play an integral role in relation to the groupwide strategy, which emphasises food and agriculture lending, S&P said. The NZ subsidiary's success in this aspect of operations led S&P to "consider it highly unlikely that Rabobank Group will divest Rabobank New Zealand." Commonwealth Bank of Australia has made "a high-profile and expensive hire" according to online tech news site Finextra: The bank has paid A$300,000 for Chip, one of only three REEM "humanoid robots" from Spanish firm PAL Robotics. Chip will be used to carry out research into artificial intelligence. Commbank's Sydney innovation lab will be used as a testing environment for students and academics of Australia's leading technology universities to conduct research and development in social robotics.