Review of interest-only home loans

Overview   This report sets out ASIC’s findings from a review of home loans with an interest-only period during the initial part of the loan (interest-only home loans). The review looked at the practices of 11 lenders who offer interest-only home loans. The review found examples of practices that place lenders at risk of breaching responsible lending obligations. The report details these findings and sets out a number of actions that Australian credit licensees (credit licensees) should take. All 11 lenders that were included in this review have agreed to implement the actions set out in this report

Non-GAAP earnings: International overview and suggestions for future research

This paper shows how non-generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) earnings have been found to be more informative than GAAP earnings in several scenarios like countries where non-GAAP disclosures are compulsory and countries where these disclosures are voluntary but regulated

Financial advice: fees for no service

In 2015, ASIC commenced a project to review the extent of failure to deliver ongoing advice services to financial advice customers who were paying fees to receive those services. The project covers Australian financial services (AFS) licensees that are product issuers or provide personal advice to retail clients, and that are part of AMP Limited, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Macquarie Group Limited, National Australia Bank Limited and Westpac Banking Corporation. This report outlines the findings and outcomes to date

Divestment of commonwealth public enterprises in Australia: the cupboard is bare

Public enterprises have played a major role in the national development of Australia since the early years of European settlement. More recently, especially since the 1980s, Australian governments at national and state levels, involving political parties of both the left and right, have undertaken a program of major reform of their public sectors. The relentless pace of reform has been driven by a variety of motives from pragmatic through to ideological, within a broad consensus that private delivery of services should be privileged over public. As a result, discourse about public enterprises in Australia has tended to focus on divestment and windfall revenues to assist governments to balance their budgets. The analysis in this paper will detail the major players at the national level, their governance arrangements and some consideration of how these enterprises have performed. We will also outline how the public mission of public enterprises has transformed in recent decades from a role as nation builder to one as enabler of services. In conclusion we will consider the long-term outlook including the loss of public value with declining standards of service and the reduced opportunities for further divestments with pressure on governments to seek alternative savings and revenue arrangements

Towards an Economy of Higher Education

This paper draws a distinction between ways thinking and acting, and hence of policy and practice in higher education, in terms of different kinds of economy: economies of exchange and economies of excess. Crucial features of economies of exchange are outlined and their presence in prevailing conceptions of teaching and learning is illustrated. These are contrasted with other possible forms of practice, which in turn bring to light the nature of an economy of excess. In more philosophical terms, and to expand on the picture, economies of excess are elaborated with reference, first, to the understanding of alterity in the work of Emmanuel Levinas and, second, to the idea of Dionysian intensity that is to be found in Nietzsche. In the light of critical comment on some current directions in policy and practice, the implications of these ways of thinking for the administrator, the teacher and the student in higher education are explored

Financial inclusion: Policies and practices

As a key enabler for development, financial inclusion is firmly placed on the agenda of most governments as a key policy priority. Against this background, this round table provides a global and regional perspective on the policies and practices of financial inclusion. Using macro data, the collection reveals the diversity in the efforts towards achieving financial inclusion and the need for a progressive approach in financial inclusion. Further to this, the round table provides the regional perspectives on the policies and practices of financial inclusion in India, South Africa, and Australia