Just a few days before Christmas, one of Australia’s largest dealer groups, Professional Investment Services, entered into enforceable undertaking (EU) discussions with ASIC.
The decision to agree to an EU comes after an almost four-year monitoring process of the group by the corporate regulator.
There have often been rumours the dealer group had sailed close to agreeing to an EU last year, however, news of the group’s merger with Centrepoint Alliance quashed such notions.
Then, just days later Japanese insurance firm Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company announced a takeover bid for Tower Australia. The Dai-ichi offer valued Tower at $1.76 billion. The takeover bid would increase Dai-ichi’s current shareholding in the group from 29 per cent to 100 per cent.
Australia’s insurance sector was thrown into a further spin early in the new year, with storms across the country’s north creating a disaster zone of floods.
Assistant Treasurer and Financial Services and Superannuation Minister Bill Shorten has since met with the Insurance Council of Australia to discuss insurance claims.
Shorten said insurers would be processing claims as quickly as possible on a case-by-case basis.
“The government is working closely with the insurance industry to minimise any potential problems with accessing insurance claims and we urge anyone affected by the floods to contact their insurance companies as early as possible,” he said.
According to industry economists, the impact of the Queensland floods is not only going to affect the insurance sector, with floods impeding mining and other activity, including driving up the cost of fruit and vegetables.
In this week’s edition, IFA asked a number of leading number crunchers to offer their predictions for the year ahead (page 18).
Atop many of their lists is the possibility of the Reserve Bank of Australia increasing rates at least twice in the next 12 months.
One economist suggested there are a number of potential threats to watch out for this year, including “recurring sovereign debt crises in Europe, another bout of house price weakness in the US, monetary tightening in China and Australia and the risk of a sharp rise in bond yields”.
Another economist predicted in 2011 there is a chance that many of the trends and themes that have occupied currency markets will reverse.
It seems we are all in for a bumpy ride. Buckle up.
