Corporate Law Minister Chris Bowen flagged in December the idea of multiplying by five the penalty for breaking sharemarket trading rules. But he reneged on his plan, outlined in a consultation paper , after stockbrokers lobbied the government to keep the existing penalty at $1

Investment bank Macquarie Group Ltd expects its second half profit to be broadly in line with the first half, taking the fiscal 2010 result to about $960 million. However, while uncertain markets still made forecasting difficult, there was potential for the second half result to be 10 per

AAP Australia's big four banks will retain their double-A long-term credit ratings following the federal government's decision to withdraw the wholesale funding guarantee, ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) says. However, S&P also warned that the Australian banking system's

Trade unions are gearing up for another battle on behalf of Australia's 1.3 million low-paid workers by campaigning for a catch-up increase to the federal minimum wage. The Australian Fair Pay Commission, in July last year, froze the minimum wage at $543.78, rejecting the unions' claim for