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A perplexing element of the briefing documents published yesterday by Westpac on its proposed takeover of St George is the choice of source material for data on the combined market share of the two ba.. read more

A rival bid for St George Bank or an increased Westpac offer remains probable, if the pricing of each bank's shares in the market is any guide. read more

Steve Weston, general manager of residential and commercial lending at Challenger, told the Mortgage Finance Association of Australia in Sydney a week ago it appeared many home loans - including the p.. read more

Macquarie Group's banking business is likely to take a much more cautious approach to term lending in the near future, the firm's chief financial officer, Greg Ward, told an investor briefing on the a.. read more

A dour outlook statement and a patchy composition of its second-half profit -including a return on equity of only 17 per cent - saw the bank's shares fall by seven per cent yesterday to $61.25. read more

Royal Automobile Club of WA sold their mortgage broking arm Mortgage Find, with loans exceeding $306 million, to Australian Central Credit Union. read more

St George historically traded on an inflated price earnings ratio, relative to other banks, due to its perennial status as a takeover target, but this was eroded in the months prior to Westpac's merge.. read more

Succumbing to poor market conditions, Australia's largest broker has retrenched almost a fifth of its workforce in an effort to cut costs. read more

With a heavy bias toward New South Wales, a merged Westpac and St George would have Australia's largest mortgage book, exceeding $200 billion and more than a fifth of the market measured by outstandin.. read more

A union of Westpac and St George will create a deposit-taking powerhouse with $81 billion in household deposits, according to the latest March 2008 APRA statistics. read more