Advertisement
Singapore markets closed

  • Straits Times Index

    3,280.10
    -7.65 (-0.23%)
     

  • Nikkei

    37,934.76
    +306.28 (+0.81%)
     

  • Hang Seng

    17,651.15
    +366.61 (+2.12%)
     

  • FTSE 100

    8,116.98
    +38.12 (+0.47%)
     

  • Bitcoin USD

    64,434.22
    +478.68 (+0.75%)
     

  • CMC Crypto 200

    1,392.22
    -4.31 (-0.31%)
     

  • S&P 500

    5,048.42
    -23.21 (-0.46%)
     

  • Dow

    38,085.80
    -375.12 (-0.98%)
     

  • Nasdaq

    15,611.76
    -100.99 (-0.64%)
     

  • Gold

    2,360.10
    +17.60 (+0.75%)
     

  • Crude Oil

    83.96
    +0.39 (+0.47%)
     

  • 10-Yr Bond

    4.7060
    +0.0540 (+1.16%)
     

  • FTSE Bursa Malaysia

    1,575.16
    +5.91 (+0.38%)
     

  • Jakarta Composite Index

    7,036.08
    -119.22 (-1.67%)
     

  • PSE Index

    6,628.75
    +53.87 (+0.82%)
     

Australia’s Big Four Banks’ Shares Fall as Regulators Request Dividend Deferral

Investing.com
·1-min read

By Gina Lee

Investing.com - Australia’s “Big Four” banks saw their shares fall on Wednesday as regulators urged them to defer dividend payments.

The Australian Prudential (LON:PRU) Regulation Authority asked banks and insurers on Tuesday to consider deferring dividend payments until the economic impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic were better understood.

Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (ASX:CBA), Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC), National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) and ANZ Banking Group (ASX:ANZ) all saw their shares slide in the aftermath of the announcement.

NAB saw the biggest slide as its shares tumbled 3.94% by 12:45 AM ET (5:45 AM GMT). Westpac shares lost 3.05%, ANZ saw its Australian shares fall 2.87% and CBA shares fell 1.74%.

ADVERTISEMENT

Westpac is yet to decide regarding its interim dividend, while National Australia Bank said it will take the regulator’s request into account when considering its dividend for the first half year.

The move follows a similar request from the APRA’s U.K. counterpart on April 1, causing similar falls in HBSC and Standard Chartered’s Hong Kong shares.

APRA also announced that it would suspend the issuance of new banking, insurance and superannuation licenses for six months due to COVID-19 uncertainties.

Related Articles

Pulp friction: Border jams delay supply of toilet paper's only ingredient

Trump administration seeks $250 billion more in aid for small U.S. businesses: Mnuchin

Australia's Treasury Wine, to cope with virus, weighs Penfolds demerger, U.S. cutback