Latest news with #AustralianFinancialReviewBankingSummit
Bloomberg
18-03-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Chalmers Hits Back at US Over Tariffs
Morning folks, Rich Henderson from Bloomberg's Melbourne bureau here with the latest headlines... Today's must-reads: • Treasurer chides US over tariffs • NAB fights for market share in business lending • Active Super fined A$10.5 million for greenwashing Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers hit back at the country's treatment by the US over tariffs on steel and aluminum. 'We deserve better as a long-term partner and ally,' Chalmers told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Tuesday. 'These sorts of tariffs are self-defeating, they're self-sabotaging, they're a recipe for less growth and higher inflation.' Meanwhile, Former US Ambassador to Australia Jeffrey Bleich says President Trump's leadership style presents a challenge to America's traditional allies. Trump takes "everything to an ultimate" as part of his negotiating strategy, says Bleich in an interview with Bloomberg TV's Haidi Stroud-Watts and Paul Allen, which can be "unsettling" for other governments. Canada has selected an Australian-developed radar system to detect incoming missiles as part of a push to beef up its military presence in the Artic. The move comes after heightened friction between Canada and the US that has raised questions about the future of a defense partnership between the bordering countries that stretches back to the 1950s. National Australia Bank is facing its biggest threat in years as Commonwealth Bank and Westpac push into small business lending, traditionally its strong suit. NAB CEO Andrew Irvine forecast heightened competition as 'there is more growth to be had,' than other banking sectors, he said at the Australian Financial Review Banking Summit.
Bloomberg
18-03-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Commonwealth Bank CEO Says Australia Resilient to Trade War Risk
By and Sharon Klyne Save The chief of Australia's biggest bank said the country is well placed to weather the risks of a trade war, even after Donald Trump's whipsaw tariff announcements recently spurred a steep selloff in global equity markets. Australia's overall trade balance with partners beyond the US as well as its regional security make it resilient to increasing geopolitical uncertainty, Commonwealth Bank of Australia Chief Executive Officer Matt Comyn said on Tuesday at the Australian Financial Review Banking Summit in Sydney.
Bloomberg
18-03-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
NAB Bets New Business Chief Will Fend Off Competition
National Australia Bank Ltd. is confident that a leadership change in its prized business banking division will fend off increasing competition from local rivals, its chief executive said. NAB announced Monday that Andrew Auerbach will head up business and private banking, replacing Rachel Slade. 'We're continuing to invest in our leadership position because we know that it's competitive out there and that's one of the reasons that I brought Andrew Auerbach back in,' NAB Chief Executive Officer Andrew Irvine told the Australian Financial Review Banking Summit in Sydney on Tuesday.
Reuters
18-03-2025
- Business
- Reuters
NAB CEO warns Trump's 'tariff madness' may end Australia's easing cycle
SYDNEY, March 18 (Reuters) - Australia may be at the end of its cycle of interest rate cuts if the "tariff madness" instigated by U.S. President Donald Trump escalates into a global trade war, NAB ( opens new tab CEO Andrew Irvine said on Tuesday. A "global tariff war" would stoke global inflation and pose challenges for Australia, Irvine said. Last month, Australia cut interest rates for the first time since November 2020 to 4.1%. Make sense of global markets with the Trading Day newsletter. Sign up here. "We're not an island," he told the Australian Financial Review Banking Summit. "If this tariff madness does happen, we could be at the end of reductions [in Australia]." NAB, the country's third-largest mortgage lender and top business lender, is currently forecasting two quarter-point rate cuts in the back half of 2025.
