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hollister france Westpac rate leap shows lack of nous
Westpac continues to stick to the line that the rise is covering its cost of funding, yet some analysts predict the extra 20 basis points rise above the RBA's rate could deliver the bank $230 million in extra revenue.

But it also happened to be the day when the bank launched its latest campaign to convince us that they are flesh and blood like the rest of us hollister milano. Westpac proclaimed that the bank manager was back hollister france, no longer forcing hapless customers to wait on the end of a phone line for a faceless call-centre operative to decide the direction of their lives.

ANZ cynically announced its intention to raise rates on Melbourne Cup day in the hope the diversion would act as a cover for its actions woolrich.

Talking up restoring bank managers to branches in your marketing is a risky strategy in itself as it only serves to remind people that a decade ago you were sacking the managers and closing the branches. Then again, this is the week for mea culpas abercrombie online shop, so Westpac can line up alongside Tiger Woods and Tony Abbott. It might even garner some brownie points for being honest, for once.

NAB was wise enough to let Westpac take the heat for a couple of days and waited until yesterday afternoon to raise its rates by 25 basis points, in line with the RBA. Compared with Westpac, NAB looks like a charity. Indeed, in its press release there was a reference to Westpac's decision and how NAB customers would be paying $51 a month less in repayments than Westpac customers on an average $300 abercrombie france,000 home loan.

On the very day Westpac's bosses were out pushing the message that the local branch was back in business woolrich outlet Print Look Fashionable For Summer With Discount De, Westpac HQ sent out a very different message abercrombie There Square Measure Several Staff Dying Or Obta. Yes abercrombie, your bank manager might be able to make your life easier but, lest you forget it, we still wield the power of life or death, financially speaking that is.

Remember this is from the bank that likes to think of itself as the consumer's champion, the first of the big four to move on winding back bank fees.

It was always going to be a big day on Westpac's calendar. The Reserve Bank was meeting to discuss another widely flagged rise in interest rates abercrombie deutschland. Along with the finance committees of all the other big banks, they would have been totting up the numbers.

Chief executive Gail Kelly and her retail chief, Peter Hanlon, were pressing the flesh in branches while red-shirted Westpac promotional staff were in the street thrusting flyers into the public's hands.

Tuesday was also the first anniversary of the merger between St George and Westpac abercrombie abercrombie Key profit week looms, a day that will forever be fixed in the minds of the bank's planners.

THE lights might well have been on in Westpac Place on Tuesday but clearly no one was at home woolrich outlet.

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Westpac has shown it cares more about its shareholders and its executive team than it does about the thousands of customers who are genuinely doing it tough, as opposed to merely experiencing the effects of increased funding costs. Yes, Tuesday marked the day that, thanks to Westpac, bank bashing made a comeback. If it really ever went away.

Given that competition from the non-bank lenders has all but melted away in the financial crisis as customers opt for the big four for security hollister, it is now a grab for market share between the big four who between them are writing almost 100 per cent of new mortgages.

Much of Westpac's advertising budget, which Nielsen estimates rose by 35 per cent to $37 million in 2008, is spent on persuading us to like them, or at least like them more than the competition.

I doubt that is going to work now. And what of Kelly's mantra to delight the customer? In light of this week's events, all of that looks like the candyfloss that it is.

But all of that was blown out of the water when an hour after the RBA's announcement that it was raising the base rate by 25 basis points, Westpac announced it was almost doubling the rate to 45 basis points.

It is not the first bank to be accused of bad timing.

Whatever you might think about Westpac's decision to jump ahead of the market, it is guilty of displaying a breathtaking lack of nous when it comes to its marketing.

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hollister france Car thief in his knife students team up aft
car thief entered a university in Chengdu, to steal the car not, took the knife to stab shed administrator and student, dashed forward

administrator's assailant stabbed escape is the gate Zhang heard his wife Ye Dajie shouts abercrombie Woolies' slim pickings, immediately shut the shed door.The mechanic research three student Wang put in the hands of the live, against the door.The man rushed away, Mr. Zhang, an open door.

2

&quot;what?Why sneaking move someone's car!&quot;Eyes suddenly keeper leaf elder sister, really gave the man a jump.He folded clip, pointing to the white bike mutter and mumble said: &quot;no, I move my car.&quot;He forgot, his car was lying at the foot of.

boys as &quot hollister;human bomb thief&quot; interdiction of

4

September 13th 6 p.m., Chengdu University at the time, fifth quarters before the shed became &quot abercrombie Resources investment dominates trade;lively&quot; rise abercrombie, car parking to students in a continuous line.Without anyone noticing, wearing a black T-shirt, on the black bike, seemingly student look man with his head low to the shed with the crowd.

man pushing a cart in the shed in East to West Akira, searching what, 10 minutes past did not find &quot abercrombie deutschland;parking&quot;.He watched a white bike, see no attention, he dropped the bike, from his pocket. Get ready first clip &quot;start moving lock&quot;.&quot hollister;Bang&quot;, gently seat soft lock was pinch off.

&quot;lock pinch off, you are a thief, catch the thief!&quot;Men see that through the leaves, sister, towards the door and ran out.

has not run a few meters, the man suddenly feel a sharp pain in his right shoulder, the original Wang seized side inflator, his back towards him, were smashed down half an.Be eager to escape men did not ache, continue to run.&quot hollister france;Catch the thief!&quot;Dormitory building came girls roar, a chase thieves &quot;fight&quot; to fire containment.Three or four students from building up.In fifth the boys dorm, a boy will be in the hands of the lunch box toward the man lost in the past, the past man accelerated.He just ran out of 20 meters, a boy as a human bomb, toward the man hits, two people over.Male elbow blood more than, but hear shouts wildly behind, men scrambled to escape hollister milano.The

September 13th afternoon, a thief broke into a university in Chengdu bicycle thief, was keeper caught.He took the knife scratch catch his students and keeper, dashed forward, they met a group of students full of sap, they Qianduhouzhui abercrombie, just after nearly a kilometer, until the thief spend oneself, even take bricks have the strength, &quot;Darling&quot; by students uniforms.At present, the car thieves have been under criminal detention.1.

aggressive thief

Qinzei thief did not think of is, he incur the wrath of students, some martial arts learning free fight, some basketball professional

men from leaf elder sister and Wang, meet Mr. Zhang still stubbornly hold, men will knife on Mr Zhang's chest stabbed.Zhang let go back a few steps, the man after the break run toward the fifth boys run abercrombie france.

men from school to school, ran two street nearly a kilometer.Spend oneself he finally slowed down, but the student didn't dumped, involved in the pursuit of more and more people.

man intentionally circle, attempts to use attrition down students will, but he did not expect abercrombie online shop, anger is a group full of SAP students hollister Michaelkorsbagsaleusa.commichael Kors Sale1xyp4 8, some of them are Martial Arts Department of Sanda, some learn basketball professional, run not only fast, endurance or.The students a hundred responses to a hundreds, have joined the team.

3

pretend students steal the car was caught

&quot;are not allowed to go!&quot;Leaf elder sister, Mr. Zhang and Wang also takes the man's arm.Men's violently thrown, but efforts not enough woolrich outlet, is unable to break, he's from his pocket, pulled out a 20 cm long folding knife, in three people waving.Knife shadow across the leaf, sister and Wang hand has a blood inlet.

students &quot;team up&quot; now nearly one kilometer

West China Metropolis Daily reporter Li Tianyu Zhang Lei photography

and

moncler Banks brace for big ABC losses
Several leases have expired already and it was believed that this may be the reason for 26 centres not being part of the deal moncler outlet abercrombie Sixty man attempted rape in the tenant was sentenced to 2 years jail.

The bank did not comment on whether it would make more write-downs. When ABC collapsed last year abercrombie, it said it had debts of $240 million abercrombie paris, but still had a carrying value of $220 million on the notes.

A source close to the sale said there was much work to be done before a final agreement is in place between ABC's bank-appointed receivers and GoodStart moncler.

NAB, which had the lowest debt at $140 million louboutin pas cher, will lend GoodStart money for its proposed acquisition.

That rents were being maintained at normal commercials terms - about $100 louboutin,000 a centre annually - was expected to help ensure landlord support for the deal.

Westpac said it had made provisions for losses against its $200 million loan.

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ABC's 300 landlords had not yet given their support to the deal, the source said.

WHILE no one was prepared to put a price tag on the impending sale of 678 ABC Learning centres to the non-profit GoodStart syndicate yesterday, Australia's big four banks will take a bath on debts of $1 abercrombie france.2 billion.

ANZ, NAB, Westpac and Commonwealth accounted for the lion's share of the $1 billion owed to ABC's bank syndicate with debts totalling $760 million abercrombie france abercrombie france Westpac squeeze. Commonwealth also had 4 abercrombie.456 million hybrid notes representing another $445 million, which are now worthless.

ANZ spokesman Kevin Foley said provision was made in the 2008 result on its $182 million loans and further provisions would be made as required abercrombie france Setting off those global jitters.

woolrich Homicide fugitives fled during eye injuries not dar
by air kill Morocco's drivers

(reporter Mou Chengzi Zhao Jingmei correspondent)

stab the eye not hospitalized

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at noon on October 20, 1993, the Caoxian man Wu and Wei at the home of friends in a small restaurant, during which the Wei told Wu, the same day he rented a farm tricycle to see friends, originally and the driver Lee is good 20 yuan fare abercrombie france BHP's $20b shale bet will be debated until return is clearer, but to the destination when the driver he is forced to be 30 yuan.See a friend Wei a very angry, usually a good president Wu after dinner, he pulls Wei to &quot;lessons learned&quot $A recovers after CPI announcement; the driver.On the afternoon of the same day, two people took a rope and stick to the car's name Lee into a wilderness, will be first Lee hanging in the trees &quot;torture&quot;, see Lee never admit a mistake, two people with a stick to Li beaten, will Lee wounded lethal.After receiving the alarm, the local police will Wei Mou hollister online shop, see friends were arrested, Wu began more than 18 years of a way to escape.

according to Wu Mou to explain, after the incident hollister, he &quot;took the lead away the sheep by the way&quot; brother ID fled to Beijing hollister, and impersonating a brother's name in Beijing a construction site as a coolie.On the run for days, Wu never dare to bring family workers, if drunk to tell the truth, he quit drinking.In 2000 November, Wu in construction work, not be reinforced a stab wound in the left eye, although Wu was immediately sent to hospital workers, but the fear of exposure status, he took the site to his 5000 yuan compensation, no treatment he rushed for discharge procedures, due to the delay of the disease the final result is blind in the left eye.Eye drop the disability, Wu went to Yantai hollister outlet, Weihai, Qingdao area everywhere and doing odd jobs.In October of this year, he fled to Jiaozhou and in a furniture companies.

however, in Caoxian the police to arrest Wu and rack one's brains, December 10th, Jiaozhou City, Yunxi police station to Jiaozhou a furniture company for routine inspection of temporary residence permits, accidentally discovered a left eye disability called &quot;in new&quot; man with suspected of Murder online fugitive Wu identity information very agree.Then the police quickly and Caoxian contact the police, found the Caoxian Su town village had a named &quot;in the new&quot; man, but the man has been living in home not out and left eye is not blind.Only his brother Wu, in 18 years ago has been run since the murder hollister france.According to the Caoxian police passed Wu photos, after alignment hollister uk, the handling a case police identified the eye handicapped men's homicide fugitives wu.Determination of Wu identity, on December 12th hollister, police in handling cases in Jiaozhou at a rented house in Wu mou.

morning post 18 years ago, 26 year old man in Caoxian Wu and friends at dinner in the process, good friend is a motorcycle taxi drivers to 10 yuan fare, to help a friend out, with wine with friends the friction driver the disorderly stick kill hollister.After the incident, see friends arrested by the police, he was posing as brother name began 18 years of escape.During the run, even if the eye is injured carelessly did not dare to go to the hospital treatment, eventually leading to the vision in his left eye.Recently woolrich outlet, the Jiaozhou police in the temporary population routine inspection of temporary residence permits will he captured.Yesterday, the reporter understands, Wu has Beixing ju.

yesterday, the reporter understands woolrich, Jiaozhou police will be in recently Wu transferred to the Caoxian police hollister The bank clerk as depositors with cheat save tens of thousands of loss.

abercrombie paris PM may be a sovereign risk, but she's not
It becomes a relative equation.

Full-page newspaper advertisements began yesterday, funded from two sources - the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies, which represents smaller minerals companies, and the billionaire Andrew Forrest's Fortescue Metals.

Illustration: michaelmucci.com

The Minerals Council of Australia - which represents the big players - has basically told the government to get on with passing the legislation abercrombie, having refuted the allegations made by AMEC and Fortescue.

The smaller miners just want a bit of tinkering to make the whole thing more equitable. But it's hard to see how that will increase tax receipts abercrombie paris.

Heavily featured in the industry's argument against the super tax in June last year was the issue of sovereign risk - the risk for investors when a government changes the rules without consultation.

The more immediate issue for the government is whether it can win the support of the independents and the Greens. The smaller miners have the ear of Andrew Wilkie, Tony Windsor wants to tie his support to coal seam gas mining restrictions and yesterday the Greens said they would seek to broaden the tax to include uranium. The Greens leader, Bob Brown, said his latest decision came after Gillard announced she would seek approval from the Labor national conference to back the sale of uranium to India.

And there are certainly some investors that say just the threat of the super tax has left an nasty hangover.

Any attempts to undertake any meaningful changes would leave the government vulnerable to a fight with the big boys of the industry - whose campaign against the super profits tax on the mining industry was devastating to the government.

The biggest culprit is the Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, who has nationalised the gold industry abercrombie france.

At least 11 countries from Australia to Ecuador have this year raised or announced plans to increase taxes this year, industry experts say.

Among the claims made by various small miners, accountants and academics is that the larger mining companies, which worked with the government on engineering the tax, will be paying very little over the first three years, and possibly for a lot longer.

According to a report by Bloomberg, Africa's second biggest gold-producing nation, Ghana, has announced it will raise the tax on mining from 25 per cent to 35 per cent. Guinea and Zimbabwe are also recent members to the club and only last week Zambia doubled some royalties on minerals.

The recent boost in the polls for the Labor Party gave the rumour all the credibility it needed to get the markets talking. It was yet another dose of much-disliked uncertainty.

Despite the backlash from small miners, BHP Billiton's chief executive, Marius Kloppers, did not defend the company's position yesterday in his prepared speech to shareholders at the annual meeting.

The firm's annual risk review says resource nationalism is the No.1 concern among mining executives and the key risk is the inability to plan.

They are singing from the same song sheet, insisting payment of the tax unfairly and disproportionately rests on the shoulders of the smaller developing companies.

The rumour coincided with a fresh assault on one of Gillard's more contested and controversial proposed pieces of legislation, the Minerals Resource Rent Tax, which is due to be introduced to Parliament next week.

In this company abercrombie, Australia's proposed rent tax seems a lot less onerous than some others, including its super tax predecessor, and more uncertain. If other resource-rich nations are imposing additional taxes, they will also expose themselves to sovereign risk concerns.

There were numerous threats by mining companies that investment would be redirected to other countries with more stable tax regimes.

If the criticism has any merit, it is impossible to see how the government will raise $11 billion from the tax in its first three years of operation.

It may be something destined for modification if Gillard wins office again. Certainly it will be a looming problem for the government if the protesters have a valid argument Echo of jobs past in former CEO's new gig. The revenue from the tax is earmarked to fund the corporate tax cut and higher superannuation contributions.

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So much so that what the industry calls resource nationalism is becoming a bigger risk to production than the financial crisis abercrombie, according to David Russell, a London-based director of Ernst &amp; Young's metals and mining team abercrombie france Jobless rate rises to 5.2%.

Fortescue went one step further abercrombie paris. Its advertisements included a table showing the company would pay less than $20 million in the tax each year from 2013 to 2015.

Russell says resource nationalism was ninth in the concerns of mining executives in 2009 abercrombie france, while last year rising costs was at the top of the list.

Abuzz passed around the financial markets yesterday based on talk that Julia Gillard had mobilised the Electoral Commission in preparation for a federal election as early as February.

At the time, Australia was portrayed as one of the international community's great culprits for attempting to grab a bigger slice of loot from the mining boom.

However, since then, plenty of resource-rich nations have proposed to tap into the increased revenue from strong mineral prices.

Mining companies may not enjoy the experience but they are still producing record earnings - chief among them BHP Billiton, Rio, Xstrata and Fortescue.

The shields provided within the tax will certainly favour companies like BHP Billiton abercrombie NAB plans $1.5b rights issue for AXA d, Rio Tinto and Xstrata that have larger asset bases.

hollister online shop The man suspected to be due to emotion
Insider: suspected emotional disputes, making a better

relationship to informed sources

13 around 2 a.m hollister., in seven Zhuang Yidong rental house, a man was even more than 30 knife cut, some alarm, the murderer was taken away by the police.Subsequently, the injured were sent to hospital, is now out of danger woolrich.At present, the police have been on the investigation into the case.



neighbor: hear the assailant shouting &quot;one knife, knife two......&quot;

cut man Hwang and Yoon is cohabiting couples friends at two o'clock in the morning, Liu Yin forecasts in men in cut $30 then, woman Yoon out for help after the rescue, Liu is trauma, but has been out of danger 3

13 at ten forty in the morning, the city hospital department of orthopedics ward saw the wounded ryu.Liu head and arms were thick gauze winding, often still oozing blood.The most serious facial injuries, there are several had been sutured wounds, too horrible to look at hollister.In addition to always shout ache, Liu Mou to open conversation.

Mr. Cui told reporters, around 2 a.m hollister france., he was upstairs came a loud noise to wake.&quot;I heard a loud shouting a knife, two, three, four knife knife knife woolrich outlet......&quot;Mr hollister uk Bank chief rejects Greek loan help. Cui opened the door, I saw on the third floor tenants woman Yoon from upstairs down as he went upstairs hollister, said people fighting, and request help from mr..Mr. Cui ran upstairs hollister outlet, but on the third floor standing in front of a man, he cried with a loud voice woolrich outlet Court overturns bans on James Hardie directors, Yoon's name, his hands still holding a bloody knife.While in the room, a strange man naked, covered in blood hollister online shop, lying on the ground.

on the morning of 13 March 10 pm, reporters at the rental house is located on the third floor residential building to see, the room is a mess.All kinds of daily necessities are strewn about, the bed and the wall of the blood.Speaking of occurred in the early hours of that day, lives on the two floor of Mr. Cui still have a lingering fear.

according to insiders, wounding a man 40 years old woman with yellow, Yoon for more than 30 years hollister uk, two people live in the rented house for more than a year, but I do not know whether the husband and wife two people.Mangled men over 30 years old, before the incident, Liu and Yoon in rental house, after being at home Huang blocked, then the bloody one act.Neighbor Mr. Cui said: &quot;Huang usually honest, good communication, it is difficult to believe that he would do such a thing to a stabbing.&quot;

Department of orthopedics ward doctor tells a reporter, the body has more than 30 stab wounds, trauma is relatively serious, wherein the leg and arm muscle rupture discovered scratches serious, face, mouth and nose are of varying degrees of injuries.At present, Liu after operation has been out of danger.

after a few minutes, seven police station rushed to the scene, will hurt and Yoon.City hospital emergency vehicles rushed to the scene at the same time, the injured taken to hospital woolrich outlet Between rocks and a hard place.Dr.

the news reporter Gao Lujian Intern Guo Jigang

there is speculation, Huang is because of emotional entanglements assault.Reporter to verify this seven police station, police said, at present, the case is still under investigation, not to disclose the details.

Liu family told reporters, Liu is the District, in a company.Last night 7 p.m hollister. when coming off work, Liu was very unusual, not only did not have dinner at home, the family call him to the phone has been shut down.The family received a phone call this morning that, Liu was cut in the hospital.

hollister Why we must hang greenwashing out to dry for good
The outstanding example is the Body Shop. The retailer of ethical cosmetics sold out to L'Oreal, a notorious name in ethical investing that stood for everything the Body Shop was supposed to be against. L'Oreal is a company ethical investors regularly rallied against hollister. It has a record on animal testing in cosmetics - not to mention a history of taking over Holocaust-era assets. The deal was sealed in 2006 but most shoppers don't know the Body Shop is owned by L'Oreal burberry outlet.

A few days ago it took a new turn. Traditionally, greenwashing has seen companies posing as environmentally friendly before some incident raised hard questions about the sincerity of their efforts hollister milano.

The most deceptive operations are where there is some vague hollister, fashionable proposition of ethical or thoughtful business leadership when the company or its parent has a poor record in the area. There's no law against it, but it's an unwanted trend.

CALL it sins of omission, being economical with the truth or just plain pulling the wool. It was always a problem in business hollister outlet, but with the rise of the green movement it just got much worse as companies try to look socially responsible but regularly fail when it comes to the crunch.

The incident raises the question: Can big business ever really do the right thing? Surely hollister uk, the sheer scale of many such enterprises means there will be objectionable activity somewhere.

The common thread here is companies not being 100 per cent upfront with customers about what they are, who owns them or, crucially, what their ultimate owners represent.

Except that Boost is controlled by Riverside Group hollister, a private equity operation in the US with interests in everything from animal feed to industrial chemicals.

This time it was in finance, in this case ANZ, which promotes itself as a new age bank. ANZ is the world's highest-ranking bank in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, but is not clean when it comes to coal. The bank continues lending money to coal operations, which are non grata in many quarters. The government's carbon panels do not even invite them to join. Surprising then to hear Verve Energy suggesting the name of its banker at a WA coal mine had to be confidential - it turned out to be ANZ.

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The other day I found the subject before me again in a supermarket where I overhead two teenagers discussing the popular Green and Black chocolate burberry, with its history of helping fair trade in the world's poorest cocoa-growing regions. They were blissfully unaware that it is a subsidiary of Cadbury hollister france, a multinational corporation with roots in the colonial-era cocoa trade.

Unfortunately hollister, one of the more popular methods of dealing with the problem is to let the very big company have a subsidiary with its own brand and let the public assume the two have nothing in common.

Then the other night on Channel Ten's Undercover Boss there was high-profile Boost juice bar entrepreneur Janine Allis talking about her Boost army. Boost trades heavily on the story of Janine and her building up a great independent company, promoting itself as a healthy, clean, environmentally friendly local enterprise.

Related articles:  hollister milano Echo's numbers just a sideshow as suitors wait hollister Gamblers return; Macau back in the billions burberry ASX closes lower 

burberry Echo in trading halt ahead of share sale
Singapore gaming operator Genting said on Friday it had taken a stake in Echo, raising the prospect of a battle for control of the $3 billion casino company with billionaire rival James Packer, who holds a 10 per cent stake.

Reuters

Mr Packer wants to use Echo's licence to build a new casino complex in Sydney to attract more Asian high-rollers and has been agitating for change at Echo. On Friday, he succeeded in ousting the company's chairman.

Nomura analyst Nick Berry said the proceeds would most likely be used to cut debt after the company's gearing level nudged the top end of his comfort range after a writedown on the VIP business.

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Analysts speculated that Genting, Southeast Asia's largest gaming group, was preparing for an acquisition, having built up a war chest of $S3.9 billion ($3.15 billion), and said Echo's Sydney casino would be the prize.

Mr Berry said in a research note that Echo could raise up to $250 million from shareholders.

Echo also said the high-roller business at its Sydney Star casino and its three Queensland casinos had come in below estimates. Analysts have said the Sydney casino's refurbishment costing some $870 million has not led to a substantial pick-up in revenue.

Shares in Echo have gained a quarter so far this year, comfortably outperforming the benchmark S&amp;P/ASX 200 Index, which is flat.

Last month, Echo said it would book a writedown of $29.9 million for its international VIP business, after a junket partner called SilkStar collapsed leaving bad debts and some of the VIP players it had introduced to Echo also leaving debts outstanding.

Echo, which owns Sydney's only casino and the Jupiter's casino on the Gold Coast, asked for a trading halt in its shares pending the announcement of the capital raising. The company did not give any details on the size of the planned raising.

A Packer spokesman did not return a call seeking comment. Genting declined to comment.

The Australian Financial Review said that Mr Packer and Genting Chairman Lim Kok Thay are expected to meet to discuss a possible agreement that could include Mr Packer's plans for Echo and a potential entry for Genting to Macau.

Casino operator Echo Entertainment plans a capital raising, which could help support its high-roller business, amid speculation that two of its largest shareholders are preparing to discuss a possible alliance.

Related articles:  Gunns shares soar on takeover talk burberry outlet Downer EDI off credit rating watch burberry Jetset fails to meet merger detail deadline 

hollister france The window for reform is closing
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Nonetheless, he also believes it is time for a new Wallis, and not just because of the global financial crisis. Having a broad-based review, it seems to me, is very important at the moment.

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The Storm inquiry is examining potential reforms for retail investors. But none of the reviews under way is investigating the impact of keeping four pillars in place, or doing away with it all together.

The debate about what - if any - reforms are needed to protect retail investors is crucial. The terms of reference of the Storm inquiry include examining the regulation surrounding financial products and services, especially those that have cost small investors their houses and their life savings.

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The Productivity Commission is poring over executive remuneration. The Cooper review is pulling apart superannuation; the Henry review, tax. A parliamentary joint committee is in the middle of an immense dissection of financial products and services, with a focus on financial planners, financial advice and the collapse of Storm Financial.

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THINGS will never be the same again. That was the gut-wrenching feeling a year ago, as financial giants toppled, liquidity dried up and global confidence shrivelled. The world's leaders were united in declaring an end to, in Barack Obama's words, the arrogance and greed that helped fuel the crisis.

Hoaxer defends fake ANZ letter

Grounded Shell rig to be towed

Despite HIH and the recent corporate failures, Professor Ramsay believes that overall the assessment is a positive one on (the twin pillars) structure.

Ian Macfarlane, the former Reserve Bank governor, argues four pillars was a major factor in shielding Australia from the worst excesses that led to the global financial crisis. In a speech this year, Macfarlane said that rather than boost competition, four pillars had ironically saved the banks by keeping competition at manageable levels.

Wallis, named after its chairman Stan Wallis, envisaged the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority as the twin peaks of regulation in Australia.

Another debate surrounds the big banks and the long-running four-pillars policy, which prohibits the four from merging.

Now we face a financial crisis of truly global proportions, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told the United Nations in late September. The challenge is to reform financial markets and regulatory systems, to reduce the chances of these events repeating themselves.

British investors continue their fight for compensation after the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

But there are other, more difficult issues that must be debated. How to roll back the deposit guarantee? How to handle the problem of moral hazard, now that is it clear that the Government would never allow a serious financial failure? How will Australia handle competing reform agendas from overseas?

Later, on the balance between caveat emptor and investor protection, he observed that ''Australia is the most liberal country in the world in the sense of letting people screw themselves up. We let retail investors invest in anything, basically.''

Certainly, we are not interested in a big review, Corporate Law Minister Chris Bowen told The Age earlier this month. ''I don't think the time is right for that. We are interested in sensible, appropriate reforms where we see shortcomings in the structure … (it is about) refurbishments, rather than restructure.''

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The best that can be said is that the efficient markets idea has been discredited, and future consideration of regulation should start from the premise that financial markets can't be trusted to get things right on their own, he says.

And, most fundamentally, to what extent should retail investors be protected from themselves?

Bank liquidity rules watered down

Hitting back at criticism sparked by the failures, ASIC's chairman, Tony D'Aloisio, last month called for a debate about the policy settings defining ASIC's role, suggesting the settings put in place by Wallis - very much efficient market theory: let the market sort it out - may be too loose for a financial system entrusted with Australia's $1 trillion in superannuation savings.

While it is true that the big four banks emerged from the crisis bigger and stronger than ever, dozens of high-profile companies wielding big debts and poor business models have been exposed and dispatched in the wake of the global financial crisis. They include conglomerates Babcock &amp; Brown and Allco, once-mighty listed companies such as ABC Learning and Centro, financial planners Storm, managed investment scheme operators Timbercorp and Great Southern, debenture companies such as Bidgee Finance, brokers Opes Prime and Tricom … the list goes on.

ASIC would regulate corporations, and have responsibility for consumer protection. APRA would be the national prudential regulator, overseeing banks, insurers and anything - including credit unions and building societies - that accepted people's deposits.

Two years ago, the concept of a so-called super regulator - a merged ASIC and APRA - was in vogue, and the then Labor opposition was sizing ASIC up for budget cuts. How things change. Last October, as the world reeled in the chaos following Lehman Brothers' collapse, Rudd referred to the twin pillars of regulation as first class. And they require absolute bipartisan support - in word and in deed, he cautioned. To do anything other is reckless at a time of global financial crisis.

Despite the apparent health of Australia's most important financial institutions, and despite the fact that Australia's Government has in train a long list of reviews, inquiries and reforms, prominent economists and academics are calling for something bigger and more thorough - a full review of Australia's financial systems, a successor to the Wallis report of 1997, the Martin inquiry of 1991, and before it, the 1981 Campbell inquiry.

ASIC calculates that about $73 billion was lost in such collapses and failures - about 6.2 per cent of last year's gross domestic product.

Because of what we've seen and the losses to investors, should we be turning the dial to more protection? he asked.

Was it good luck or good management? Despite Australia's relatively soft landing, warnings against complacency are mounting. Remembering the old phrase of don't waste a crisis, some fret that the opportunity for reform is already passing.

They fell outside the regulatory scope of APRA, while the disclosure regime overseen by ASIC did little to dissuade many small investors from handing over their money.

Ian Ramsay, corporate law professor at Melbourne Law School, says Macfarlane's argument again highlights the need for a review of the financial system. We have ended up with what we had before, but different, in the sense that we have ended up with four dominant institutions - but they now are even more dominant, he says.

Our relatively strong economic position offers an opportunity to review, investigate, consolidate and reform (if necessary), the letter says. We need to … avoid the temptation of complacency.

The letter penned by Professor Quiggin and his five economist peers contains a long list of other unanswered questions about Australia's financial system. They were, in the economists' words, a small subset of many profound policy questions surrounding Australia's financial system.

They argue that Australia's soft landing was less about a regulatory system beyond reproach or improvement than Australia's links to China's economy, the billions of dollars spent on economic stimulus, and the four-pillars policy prohibiting big bank mergers.

John Quiggin, economist at the University of Queensland, believes luck played a big role in Australia's relatively soft landing. It was Professor Quiggin, with five other high-profile economists, who in July called on the Government to review Australia's system of financial regulation. He notes that there is clearly … not much short-term momentum for a Wallis-scale review.

ASIC's powers and responsibilities have multiplied in the past year; it now carries responsibility for financial literacy, it will regulate the new national consumer credit regime, and next year, will take over from the ASX as market supervisor.

getting lost in the mix. There's lots of action and lots of patching up, but are we missing the big picture? he asked a Melbourne Institute lunch last week.

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The Government has been busy with reforms sparked by the global financial crisis. Credit rating agencies must now be licensed. Naked short-selling is banned and covered short-selling must be disclosed. Golden handshakes will be capped. And, of course, the major reform of market supervision - taking powers from the ASX to ASIC.

If the Government is not keen on a big review, it has quite a collection of refurbishments under way. The most significant reform to date is also the most recent - the promised transfer of market supervision powers from the Australian Securities Exchange to ASIC.

And the Government's Corporations and Markets Advisory Committee is awaiting a response to its recent report into market integrity.

Lehman victims fight on

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Despite the Wallis report being more than a decade old, calls for a sequel have thus far been met with a metaphorical shrugging of shoulders.

Putin gives Depardieu hug and passport

One year on, as Rudd prepares to join other G20 leaders in Pittsburgh later this month, it is clear that Australia has escaped the worst of the crisis. As banks overseas crumbled or were nationalised, as institutions were bailed out and regulators chastised, Australia's most important financial institutions sailed through the turmoil, AA-credit ratings intact.

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Outlook: ASX set to take a breather

There is a flurry of activity - but Kevin Davis, research director at the Melbourne Centre for Financial Studies, suggests something may be

The twin peaks have been shaken in the past - the catastrophic collapse of HIH in 2001 transformed APRA into a more vigorous regulator, while ASIC was restructured under D'Aloisio's stewardship.

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burberry Forrest snaps up sliding Fortescue
His loss is even more severe if compared with the January share price for Fortescue of $7 burberry.27.

The stock has now lost almost 27 per cent of its value since September 19 when it was worth $6.05, meaning Mr Forrest has suffered a personal hit of close to $1.5 billion in the past fortnight.

Spooked by a horror 10 days of trading in which the company lost a quarter of its value hollister france, Fortescue revealed its September-quarter results would show shipped volumes of more than 12 billion tonnes hollister.

Exporting 12 billion tonnes of ore during the September quarter may be a new record for Fortescue but the company will need to produce even more inthe next nine months to meet its promise of exporting 55 million tonnes in the year to next June 30. The company stuck to that annual guidance yesterday hollister outlet.

Mr Forrest's latest purchase in the company he built came as Fortescue sought to calm skittish investors with news of the most productive quarter in the iron-ore exporter's eight-year history.

According to an ASX filing yesterday, The Metal Group bought a further one million ordinary Fortescue shares at a price of just more than $5 million. A series of similar purchases over recent weeks have totalled more than $100 million in spending by The Metal Group, which holds about 31 per cent of Fortescue.

Amid recent speculation of a possible softening in iron-ore prices hollister, Fortescue said it had sold all of its stock for an average $160 per tonne and stressed no shipments had been cancelled or deferred during the past three months.

MINING billionaire Andrew Forrest has continued to buy shares in Fortescue Metals Group heavily, despite the value of his holdings in the company diminishing by almost $1.5 billion in the past fortnight hollister.

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But the bullish news was not enough to lift Fortescue shares hollister uk, which closed 3&#162 hollister milano; lower at $4.42 yesterday hollister.

Mr Forrest, who earlier this year vacated the chief-executive role at Fortescue in favour of becoming chairman burberry outlet, has been using his private company, The Metal Group, to help Fortescue executives buy shares in their company.

Early release of information - to be published in full on October 17 - coincided with Mr Forrest's latest buying of Fortescue shares. Related articles:  hollister BHP approves $1.57b WA gas project</li> hollister france Market weighed down by resource s</li> hollister Computer 'won't lose' in online TV battle</li> </ul>

hollister uk Bank advice wins mixed reviews
But the bank's planning customers were the least likely to recommend their financial planner to others, such as family, friends and colleagues.

ANZ Financial Planning has the most satisfied customers with a score of 7,hollister milano.22 out of 10,hollister. AXA Financial Planning customers are the next most satisfied with a score of 7.14. Commonwealth Bank customers are the least satisfied with a score of 5.24.

Commonwealth Bank planners scored poorly on five questions about how well planners communicated with customers. The bank said the survey may be too simplistic to provide holistic analysis.

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Mr Inwood said that during the global financial crisis some advisers did not communicate well with their customers,hollister. He said communication was the biggest driver of satisfaction.

Customers were also asked to rate their planners by several criteria,hollister france, including their communication skills,hollister sale, market knowledge and ability to deliver personalised advice.

Andrew Inwood, the managing director of CoreData,burberry, said: ''For most people a score of six probably means the advice is OK,hollister uk. But five is not OK.

Mr Inwood said CoreData's other surveys had shown customers of premium advice arms were more satisfied than those of standard advice networks,burberry outlet.

CoreData surveyed consumers receiving advice from planners employed at branch offices rather than from premium advice arms, which serve wealthier clients,hollister france.

A CoreData survey showed customer satisfaction levels were mixed, with many respondents saying they would hesitate to recommend advisers to others.

Anything between six and eight is good and anything over eight is extremely good, but nobody scored more than eight,hollister.

The survey of 2000 customers of the planning arms of the big four banks, AMP and AXA shows Commonwealth Bank's financial planning customers rated the bank's planners 8.51 out of 10, the highest on trust.

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hollister france Scale matters in aviation
High jet fuel prices would have contributed enormously to the demise of Air Australia,hollister.

Big airline groups like Qantas often operate different business segments, such as a full-service carrier, a low cost carrier and freight business segments,isabel marant.

Coffs Harbour, Wagga and Dubbo are examples of regional airports that publically advertise heavy price discounting to attract the big boys.

In the same way that passengers want competition to drive down airfares but they don't want to be left stranded when the airline goes belly up. Sometimes you can't have it both ways.

Air Australia would have had limited economies of scope opportunities.

Economies of scale

They would have also had a very small treasury risk management team and a small-fuel hedging budget, which means they were probably more exposed to higher jet fuel prices than the big carriers.

For example, freight that is put into the belly of a passenger plane adds little to the cost of a flight. The unit cost of the flight can be lowered because the total costs of the flight can be spread across both the weight of the passengers and freight on the aircraft.

Small airlines simply don't have the budget to get access to these datasets, and even if they did have access they need extensive resources to extract useful information from them &#8211; resources they simply can't afford.

Both variety of destinations and frequency at the peak are the most important drivers of business purpose travel,hollister france, which represents 64% of day trips, 40% of overnight trips and 16% of international trips by air in Australia.

Air Australia just wasn't big enough to succeed.

Volume discount benefits

Competition

These datasets are often expensive and extracting useful information from them takes considerable skill and resources.

Air Australia wouldn't have had much penetration of the business segment of the market because of their lack of network reach and frequencies at the peak,hollister.

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Tony Webber was Qantas Group chief economist between 2004 and 2011. He is now managing director of Webber Quantitative Consulting and Associate Professor at the University of Sydney Business School, and contributed this article to BusinessDay.

Small airlines make decisions with access to much smaller and less accurate information sets than do big airlines, resulting in more mistakes on average &#8211; some of them costly, not just to the airline but to the passengers they leave stranded.

Strong earnings generated from the business-purpose market during the economic upswing, enables accumulation of a strong cash balance to finance weaker earnings during the economic downswing and when jet fuel prices are high.

None of these bulk-purchase cost benefits would have been available to a small airline like Air Australia.

Big airlines get better pricing deals from a range of suppliers, the most important being aircraft manufacturers.

Smaller airlines tend to merge many of these departments into a single business unit. Their overheads are much lower and so their ability to derive unit cost benefits from scale is virtually non-existent.

As an airline gets bigger,hollister, the overhead cost per passenger carried declines as the fixed cost is spread over more passengers. In other words, big airlines enjoy economies of scale.

Fuel prices

They represent a huge overhead for the airline but they are justified on the basis of generating an information advantage which allows them to make better decisions.

Big airlines fly to a greater variety of destinations and offer more services at the morning and afternoon peaks along key routes.

This often generates cost advantages because common costs can be shared across the business segments &#8211; something economists call economies of scope,hollister sale.

Major airports will also cut the price they charge to big airlines to secure their business, while some regional airports, particularly those owned and operated by local councils, offer large price discounts to attract big carriers into their airports.

To be fair they probably weren't targeting this part of the market anyway, but this is a large chunk of the market to neglect. And it is a particularly profitable part of the market when the economy is strong.

Information sets

In some ways the aviation industry is like the banking industry &#8211,hollister france; mortgage holders want more competition and thus lower interest rates but they don't want a bank to go bust and risk the money they have deposited.

The airline would have found it difficult to recover higher fuel costs by putting up airfares because it serviced a price sensitive part of the market.

Bulk or volume discounts are a big part of the airline business.

Economies of scope

There are many forces that caused the demise of Air Australia but one of the most important was its size.

Big full-service airlines like Qantas have an office of the CEO, a corporate centre, HR and industrial relations, IT,hollister uk, strategy, audit,hollister, environment, corporate communications, government relations, pricing and yield, network planning, revenue forecasting, infrastructure planning, procurement,hollister milano, investor relations, safety and security, and numerous other departments that are cost centres.

Size matters in aviation, both on the revenue and cost side. Start with business traffic.

Airline decision-making requires an analysis of large and very complex datasets.

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