ANZ, maybe, has "agreed to negotiations" with the administrator of Opes Prime, John Lindholm, or so
Business Day reported yesterday.
The bank characterised the agreement as "negotiation" and "exploratory at this stage" to the Fairfax Media report.
The Australian in a follow up report quoted the bank saying "we have agreed to talk, as we have with other stakeholders such as the Australian Securities & Investments Commission and the Takeovers Panel."
ANZ appears to be hosing down expectations of any mediation over its enforcement actions and the assertion of many of the customers of Opes, a failed stockbroker and margin lender, that they did not surrender control of their shares to Opes, and in turn to ANZ.
The bank told the SMH that about 90 per cent of the notional $710 million in security over its loan to Opes had been sold and the bank would continue to sell remaining shares in ASX-listed companies, many of them illiquid stocks.
Meanwhile there are mixed reports over whether or not ANZ has decided not to fund the planned pulp mill for Gunns in the Tamar Valley.
Business Spectator yesterday reported it learned the bank had told the group it would not fund the project in the current credit conditions. Most follow up reports suggest ANZ has made no such decision, though
The Age newspaper appeared to confirm the original report.