Economy

Third-party heavyweight Steven Heavey has been hired to fill the newly-created position of general manager of strategy at mortgage aggregator Connective.

Accountants and consumers have joined mortgage brokers in opposing the Financial System Inquiry’s attack on SMSF borrowing.

Centrepoint Alliance has announced the appointment of finance veteran John Cowan as its new chief financial officer.

Non-bank lending has fallen to its lowest levels in nine years and is now almost 19 per cent below its pre-GFC peak.

Commonwealth Bank has bucked the trend by forecasting that the Reserve Bank of Australia is unlikely to cut interest rates in 2015.

Markets now think it is a “dead certainty” that the Reserve Bank of Australia will cut interest rates by April.

One analyst has claimed that “a very high correlation” exists between house prices and consumer sentiment.

Australia’s biggest banks have launched a passionate defence of their wealth management business models.

Record-low interest rates will probably be needed to keep the economy on track, according to Shane Oliver.

Bank of Queensland has announced the appointment of Jon Sutton as its chief executive, effective immediately.