-- Westpac will not replace any more local staff with workers in lower-cost countries this year, the bank's chief executive said last week. Gail Kelly said Westpac would not use foreign workers to replace any more local staff this year, the
Sydney Morning Herald reported. However, the bank has already outsourced plenty of work to offshore suppliers. Only a month ago it commenced consultation over plans to shift up to 90 jobs from its mortgage-processing centre in Adelaide to India and the Philippines.
-- AMMB Holdings, an associate of ANZ, is among the first-round bidders for investment bank Hwang-DBS (Malaysia),
Bloomberg reported. Singapore-based DBS and Malaysia's Hwang Enterprises are the vendors. Other bidders include K&N Kenanga Holdings, Alliance Financial Group and Affin Holdings Bhd. The bids value Hwang-DBS at as much as 1.68 billion ringgit (US$541 million), Bloomberg reported.
-- The RTA Staff Credit Union, a Sydney-based credit union catering to workers in the transport industry, is rebranding as Transport Mutual this week. John Kavalieros, CEO of Transport Mutual, said the credit union was seeking to broaden its appeal to transport workers outside of its traditional public service community. The corporate identity of the Roads and Traffic Authority New South Wales is also changing.
-- Police & Nurses Credit Union, in Western Australia, will use the name P&N Bank from this week. Members of P&N voted last year to convert to a mutual bank.
-- Greater Building Society, in Newcastle, says it will offer a A$1500 cash-back deal on new fixed and variable home loans worth $200,000 or more from today. The offer applies to new loans and those people refinancing their existing loan from another financial institution.
-- The Financial Ombudsman Service found that loans of A$337,00 by Bank of Queensland to one of its own tellers was a case of "maladministration" and made without regard to the capacity of the teller and her spouse to repay the loan. The FOS ruled a further BOQ loan for $290,000 made to the couple in 2006 was appropriate, the
Courier Mail reported.
-- The Financial Review reported that a number of computers at the Reserve Bank of Australia were "infiltrated by a Chinese-developed malicious software, or 'malware' spy program as seeking intelligence on sensitive group of 20 negotiations." Multiple computers within the RBA's network were compromised, the AFR reported.