Latest Australia Headlines

All the headlines from our Australia Topic Page, ordered by recency.

New South Wales Hailstorm Triggers Australia Catastrophe Declaration

Dec 28 2018 // The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) last week declared a catastrophe following storms that caused extensive hail and water damage across Sydney and the Central Coast in New South Wales (NSW).As of Dec. 21, insurers...

Marsh Makes Post-JLT Merger Leadership Appointments

Dec 19 2018 // Global insurance broker Marsh announced the appointments of key leaders for its regional, specialty and placement teams worldwide that will be effective upon closing of the pending acquisition by Marsh’s parent...

Australia Court Narrows Class-Action Suits Against BHP over Brazil Mine Disaster

Dec 19 2018 // The Federal Court of Australia on Tuesday ordered that the number of class-action lawsuits against BHP Group over a Brazilian mine collapse be narrowed to one from three.BHP is facing legal challenges over the 2015...

Gallagher Buys Boston Marks Group with Offices in N. Zealand, Australia, UK & U.S.

Dec 10 2018 // Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., the Rolling Meadows, Ill.-based insurance broker, has acquired Boston Marks Insurance NZ in New Zealand, BMG Aviation in Australia and the book of business of Boston Marks Insurance Brokers...

Timeline: Australia’s Inquiry of Misconduct at Banks, Insurers, Wealth Managers

Nov 29 2018 // For nine months a quasi-judicial public inquiry into Australia’s financial system has heard allegations of bribery, fraud, board-level cover-up, abuse of power and the charging of fees for no service.As the inquiry...

Australia Inquiry into Bank Misdeeds Could Trigger Sweeping Financial Sector Reform

Nov 29 2018 // An inquiry that has exposed rampant greed and wrongdoing in Australia’s major banks and wealth managers wraps up this week ahead of a final report which could trigger sweeping reform of the financial sector of the...

Commonwealth Bank of Australia CEO Blames Predecessor for Insurance Mis-Selling

Nov 20 2018 // Commonwealth Bank of Australia Chief Executive Officer Matt Comyn has pinned the blame on predecessor Ian Narev for failing to stop selling credit card insurance that some customers couldn’t claim on.Narev told Comyn...

Derailment of BHP Iron Ore Train Exposes Australia’s Reliance on Private Railways

Nov 8 2018 // A network of private railroads more than three times the length of the New York subway system is the key lifeline for Australia’s A$61.3 billion ($44.5 billion) iron ore export industry. So when there’s a...

BHP Expects Interruption to Australia Iron Ore Exports After Train Derailment

Nov 7 2018 // Mining giant BHP Billiton expects some interruption to its Australian iron ore exports after a nearly 3-km-long train loaded with the commodity was forcibly derailed this week after running away en route to a key shipping...

BHP’s Western Australia Iron Ore Train Derailment Will Take Week to Recover

Nov 6 2018 // BHP Billiton Ltd. expects to take about a week to recover from the derailment of one of its iron ore trains that’s halted its rail operations in Western Australia, potentially bolstering prices of the steelmaking raw...

BHP Forced to Derail Runaway Iron Ore Train in Australia

Nov 5 2018 // BHP Billiton Ltd. was forced to derail a runaway train that traveled almost 60 miles without a driver across the Pilbara, a major iron ore producing area in Western Australia.The world’s top mining company halted all...

QBE Restructures Operations, Creating 3 Global Units; Executive Team Named

Nov 1 2018 // QBE announced changes to its structure, designed to further simplify its operations and build a more streamlined, agile and customer-oriented business.Following the underwriting remediation in Asia, which is now largely...

PERILS Offers Windstorm Forecasting Platform in Australia, Updates Europe Service

Oct 29 2018 // PERILS, the independent Zurich-based organization that provides industry-wide catastrophe insurance data, has launched a windstorm forecasting platform in Australia and updated its existing service in Europe.The website,...

Australia’s AMP to Sell Life Insurance Arm at Discount, as Funds Bleed Cash

Oct 25 2018 // Australia’s largest wealth manager AMP Ltd said on Thursday it would sell its life insurance arm at a discount and revealed its funds were hemorrhaging cash as clients pulled out their money in response to...

Australia Life Insurers Will Be Required to Publish Customer Dispute Numbers

Oct 24 2018 // Australia’s life insurers will be required to publish customer dispute numbers every six months, top financial regulators said on Wednesday, as a misconduct inquiry threatens other reforms that could hurt industry...

Australian Prime Minister Asks Regulator to Prosecute Bankers for Financial Misdeeds

Oct 1 2018 // Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Sunday it was up to the country’s financial regulator to prosecute bankers following the release of a scathing report which found some institutions had pursued profit...

Australia’s Financial Institutions Put Profit over Customers, Mis-Sold Insurance: Inquiry

Sep 28 2018 // Australia’s big banks and wealth managers pursued profit ahead of their customers’ interests and saw regulatory compliance as a cost rather than a guide to proper conduct, a scathing interim report from a...

Allianz Under Fire by Australian Commission for Travel Insurance Sales

Sep 17 2018 // An Australian unit of German insurer Allianz SE sold travel insurance that misleadingly promised unlimited emergency medical cover wherever people were even though the policies had limits on both cost and location, a...

Australia’s Financial Services Probe Highlights Need for Corporate Ethical Training

Sep 5 2018 // When Nick Wailes started as the head of Australia’s top-ranked business graduate school in February, he already had the idea of offering a course to address a shortfall of training in ethical leadership.A few weeks...

Litigation Financing Emerges as Alternative Asset Class for Wealthy Investors

Aug 29 2018 // When shares of AMP Ltd. plunged earlier this year after the firm was engulfed in a fee-for-no-service scandal, the Australian wealth manager was hit within weeks by the first of five separate class action lawsuits.It...