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Soul Patts boss Todd Barlow says KKR’s $2.18bn headline number to buy Perpetual’s corporate trust and wealth management units looks ‘pretty good’, but has left the door open to vote against the deal.

Commonwealth Bank chief executive Matt Comyn sees interest rates staying higher for longer, but does not expect the Reserve Bank to hike again this cycle.

A week or two after the upcoming 2024 Budget, the Albanese government will provide the details of a tax far more damaging to the nation than anything likely to be announced in the Budget, writes Robert Gottliebsen.

The Australian sharemarket finished in the red with most sectors down, led by retail and banking stocks. The ASX 200 index closed 1.1 per cent lower at 7,721.6 points on Thursday, with the All Ordinaries also down 1 per cent to 7,994.2 points.

The Big Read

It might have a snappy name, but for Shayne Elliott there is a lot more is riding on the ANZ Plus smartphone app than a fresh new look for a bank pushing 190 years old.

For the ANZ chief executive, the new ANZ Plus platform represents the front line of a bigger revolution taking place inside the bank. It is all about leveraging as much technology as possible to drive an old-world concept of productivity.

Like sunlight, productivity is the invisible energy that Elliott wants to harness to take on the likes of the bigger rivals like Commonwealth Bank that use massive scale to their cost advantage. As the smallest of the big four banks, ANZ, needs to be smarter in the race to the top.

Eric Johnston

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