The Morrison Government has established a Drought Finance Taskforce to address financial stress on individual farms and rural communities. According to the Government, senior representatives from the Big Four banks and Rabobank will be on the taskforce, which is expected to meet within a fortnight, and will share some of their data and observations on credit card, loan and mortgage stress caused by the drought. The National Australia Bank's chief customer officer of business and private banking, Anthony Healy, told the ABC: "Obviously at an aggregate level, not an individual customer level, we have pretty rich data about growth rates, default rates, [and] customers in distress." New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi have announced a crackdown on predatory lenders which will outlaw charging more than the value of the original loan in fees and interest costs. Faafoi confirmed plans to cap the accumulated interest and fees on high-cost loans at 100 percent of the principal amount. But the legislation won't take effect until 2020, and the Government has decided not to cap interest rates, which some have called for. The Government wants tougher oversight on payday lenders and mobile shopping trucks, which cruise the poorer suburbs of New Zealand's largest cities and have been criticised for setting loan terms that keep cash-strapped borrowers in almost perpetual debt. The revised legislation will also impose tougher penalties on lenders who break the law.? Fitch Ratings has assigned ratings of 'AAA' to ASB Bank's €500 million fixed rate mortgage covered bonds Series 2018-1. These securities are guaranteed by ASB and issued from its London branch by ASB Finance Limited, a special purpose vehicle for offshore issuance. This brings the total outstanding covered bonds from ASB to NZ$4.6 billion equivalent, of which NZ$4.4 billion have been issued by ASBFL in euros and Swiss francs and ASB has issued the remaining NZ$200 million in its local currency. Westpac has launched its own line of "designer" wearables dubbed the "Centsitive Objects" collection. Designed by Hayden Cox, the range includes a combo keychain wristband, silicon tag, iron-on patch and pins (including the "Nostalgia pin" - which is a safety pin).