Regulator To Examine Cba Raising
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday December 20, 2008
THE corporate regulator will push ahead with an investigation into the Commonwealth Bank's possible breach of disclosure rules following this week's botched $2 billion capital raising.
The bank's board is also understood to have demanded its own report into the affair as pressure rises on the chief financial officer, David Craig, to step aside.Despite the mounting criticism, CBA make public there was no need to make public this week's warning over a rising level of bad debts to investors any earlier because it did not consider the information materially significant.But it is understood the bank has failed to convince the Australian Securities Exchange that no rules were broken when it tried to warn a small group of investors about the rising level of bad debts before the information was publicly released.One analyst said this was the second strike for Mr Craig. During a recent quarterly update he came under criticism for resisting topping up the bank's provisions despite some of its exposures clearly deteriorating.While the latest warning never made it to investors until after the announcement was released generally, CBA has attracted criticism for attempting to stagger its disclosure. CBA confirmed it had intended for some investors to be given an advance warning of the higher charges, blaming its broker, Merrill Lynch, for failing to pass this information on. Merrill has rejected this version of events. It is believed ASX was yesterday preparing a brief for the matter to be referred to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald