US aviation giant Boeing has received certification for its largest 737 MAX plane, the 737-10, from the Federal Aviation Administration, ending years of delays.

The 737 Max 10’s certification represents another milestone in Boeing’s efforts to restore its reputation and financial footing after years of safety, quality and production challenges. With production approved, the aircraft can now be sold to domestic and foreign carriers.

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the certification followed years of extensive review. 

“After extensive safety reviews – including thousands of hours of test flights – the team at the FAA is ready to approve this critical aircraft for sale,” Duffy said on Tuesday.  

“This is a major win for American manufacturing and our nation’s status as a global aviation powerhouse. We invented flight, we pioneered air travel, and we are going to continue leading the way in aviation safety and innovation.” 

Stephanie Pope, president and chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said more than 30 customers around the world had purchased the 737-10 model, with orders totalling 1,555 planes to date. 

“Completing the certification program clears the path for us to deliver a Boeing airplane that will set a new standard in commercial aviation. The 737-10 offers greater capacity, longer range and the best seat economics in its class, a platform that will create more value and opportunities for airlines around the world,” Pope said. 

“We are also delighted to complete the 737 MAX family and provide our customers the most-efficient and flexible single-aisle airplane portfolio in the industry.” 

The 737-10 will typically seat between 185 and 210 passengers and offers a range of up to 5,740 kilometres. Boeing said that, like other 737 MAX jets, the 737-10 reduces fuel use and CO2 emissions by 20 per cent. 

The Max 10 is an important piece of the company’s effort to regain ground in the narrow-body market. 

For airlines, the larger plane offers a way to carry more passengers on a single flight, potentially lowering costs per seat. 

For travellers, it could eventually mean more seats on popular routes, though the impact on fares will depend on how airlines deploy the planes and how much competition they face.

with AP

Traders have upped their expectations for a November rate hike after the Reserve Bank’s second-highest ranking official said the board was considering raising rates further, even though it would hit the economy and unemployment.

Implied odds for a Melbourne Cup day rate hike have lengthened since jobs figures for September came in softer than expected.

But hawkish remarks from RBA deputy governor Andrew Hauser on Wednesday reiterated that the November meeting was still live.

Mr Hauser said the bank had “hard choices” ahead, as it grappled with a worsening inflation outlook as well as a softening jobs market.

“Do you do more to tackle higher inflation, recognising that that means weaker activity, weaker labour market?” he said at a Citi bank conference in Sydney.

“Or do we hold our horses to protect the labour market … but accept the risks in so doing that this upside inflation risk embeds, and that becomes more expensive to deal with. Those are hard choices.”

Mr Hauser said there was evidence higher inflation expectations were becoming embedded as the Middle East supply shock dragged on. 

He and governor Michele Bullock have repeatedly said that such a scenario would be unacceptable, because it then makes it harder for the bank to get price growth down long term, imposing even greater costs on the economy.

An increasing share of businesses thought that inflation of around 3.5 per cent was the new normal, Mr Hauser said.

“That is the central banker’s nightmare. We can’t allow expectations to shift away from the target,” he said.Inflation data for the September quarter, due out on October 28, will be pivotal to the RBA board’s decision.

With two months of data already in, it was clear that quarterly underlying inflation was set to print higher than the bank had assumed in August, Mr Hauser said.

And a lot of the oil price rise caused by the latest escalation in the Middle East conflict had yet to be passed on by businesses, who were worried that they would lose customers if they sought to recover their costs.

“A big part of our forecast discussions at the moment is how large that lump, if you like, that ostrich egg of oil price rises coming through in the next couple of years, is going to be. It could be quite substantial,” Mr Hauser said.

Market services inflation, which is closely watched by the RBA as it relates to domestic capacity pressures and is particularly sticky, was also relatively strong.

While economists said the rise in the jobless rate to 4.7 per cent on Thursday took some pressure off the RBA to raise rates again, Mr Hauser said unemployment was still relatively low compared to international and historical standards.

“It’s been one of the great successes of the post-COVID period … that the labour market has performed as well as it has. No lost job is one to celebrate,” he said.

“(But) we need to see some easing in the economy.

“Whether it goes to five (per cent), whether it goes to some other number, that’s a debate we’re having in the context of our forecasts at the moment, and you’ll see our answers to that in a week or two.”

Elon Musk’s Tesla and SpaceX are exploring a potential merger, the tech billionaire says, adding that both companies have formed special committees at the request of shareholders to examine the possibility. 

During a video conference to discuss SpaceX’s quarterly results on Tuesday, Musk said he was not involved in the process because of potential conflicts of interest. 

Musk is a major shareholder in both companies. His stakes form the basis of his estimated $US920 billion ($A1.3 trillion) fortune, making him the world’s richest person. 

A merger between Tesla and SpaceX has long been the subject of speculation, but Musk has previously been evasive about the prospect. 

“I think it would be a good idea, but it’s really up to the special committees of both companies,” Musk said in the first official confirmation that the companies were formally talking.

“Because I’m a conflicted party, I can’t actually be in the discussions of the special committees,” which comprised independent directors, he told investors on a conference call.

Musk noted such a move would require the approval of at least 50 per cent of Tesla shareholders. 

SpaceX posted a multibillion-dollar profit last quarter after a prolonged period of losses, driven mainly by strong growth in its satellite internet business and AI data centres. 

The company reported net income of $US4.4 billion ($A6.3 billion), compared with a loss of around $US1 billion ($A1.4 billion) in the third quarter of last year. 

Revenue jumped to $US14.58 billion ($A20.84 billion) from around $US5.58 billion ($A7.97 billion) a year earlier, beating analysts’ average forecast of about $US12.7 billion ($A18.1 billion). 

Revenue from Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet service, rose 69 per cent year-on-year to $US5.2 billion ($A7.4 billion). 

As of September 30, the service had 13.6 million customers and was available on around 3,800 aircraft, among other platforms. 

Revenue from AI surged to $US7.56 billion ($A10.8 billion) last quarter from $US813 million ($A1.2 billion) a year earlier. 

Musk’s AI company, SpaceXSI, has built large data centres, some of which are now being leased to AI competitors such as Anthropic for billions of dollars in payments. 

The AI division generated an operating profit of $US431 million ($A616 million), compared with an operating loss of $US1.7 billion ($A2.4 billion) a year earlier. 

Revenue from rocket launches rose six per cent year-on-year to $US1.77 billion ($A2.53 billion). 

SpaceX is currently valued at more than $US1.9 trillion ($A2.7 trillion) on the stock market, while Tesla is worth around $US1.48 trillion ($A2.12 trillion). 

SpaceX went public in mid-June in a record-breaking $US75 billion ($A107 billion) listing.

At an offering price of $US135 ($A193) per share, Musk’s company had a valuation of nearly $US1.8 trillion ($A2.6 trillion) at its market debut. 

This stood in stark contrast to its current business performance, but SpaceX justified the valuation with ambitious plans in artificial intelligence. 

In the first few weeks after the IPO, the share price climbed to around $US225 ($A322), driven in part by interest from retail investors. It subsequently fell below the offering price for a time. 

In an initial reaction in after-hours trading, the stock rose 1.5 per cent to around $US150 ($A214). 

SpaceX has become indispensable to the US space program in recent years. 

The company is investing heavily in Starship, its large rocket designed to make launching payloads into space significantly cheaper. 

with Reuters

US envoy Steve Witkoff will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin after what a US official called “constructive” talks with Ukrainian President ‌Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Norway.

The US official said Ukraine brought forward new ideas and proposals to the Oslo talks on Tuesday, which also involved the leaders of Norway and Finland and European and NATO representatives, and that participants ‌made “meaningful progress” toward a co-ordinated approach to engaging Russia.

The official said the talks covered “key elements of a comprehensive peace framework”, including security guarantees for Ukraine, a post-war economic plan and a broader European security architecture.

Witkoff would aim to “create a pathway toward direct trilateral and broader multilateral ‌negotiations”, the official said.

Zelenskiy travelled to Oslo seeking to repair relations with Washington, which have sunk to new lows as Trump has courted Moscow. Kyiv has complained that Washington has withheld vital military support and intelligence.

Zelenskiy told a news conference after the meeting and an earlier phone call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, that Ukraine was again receiving early warnings of Russian missile attacks.

“Now it works, it’s great,” he said, adding he and Rubio had discussed supplies of Patriot missile interceptors as well as the satellite-based Starlink system, which Kyiv complained had stopped working when mounted on fast-moving objects such as drones.

President Donald Trump’s recent gestures toward Moscow, including a deal to buy Russian diesel and a waiver of new sanctions, sparked bipartisan pushback in the US Congress and concern in European capitals.

Zelenskiy said he had discussed “Article 5-like” security guarantees, referring to the NATO stipulation that an attack on one ally ‌is an attack on all.

“I ‌am thankful to the American side that ⁠they underlined again that it will be strong,” he said.

Zelenskiy reiterated that Ukraine hoped to discuss key issues on how to end the war during a trilateral meeting of leaders of ​Ukraine, Russia and the US.

Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said the Oslo meeting had been constructive, while Finnish President Alexander Stubb added: “I think the (peace) process is back on track.”

Washington has denied deliberately hindering Ukraine’s war effort. But Trump has repeatedly rebuked Zelenskiy, and called for him to be replaced.

Trump called on Ukraine to make a deal to settle the war, and said Moscow wanted to get it done.

“Ukraine has to want to settle this war,” he told reporters.

Trump suggested Moscow had the upper hand in the war because “Russia is a big machine – they just keep grinding forward, and that’s what they’ve done. They’ve taken a very large piece of land”.

The US has largely stopped providing weapons directly to Ukraine but lets European countries buy US weaponry on Kyiv’s behalf under ⁠a program known as Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List. It has also provided intelligence and technology that Europe cannot match.

A source familiar with the matter said most ‌weapons deliveries under PURL continued to flow, but ​US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had not approved Ukraine’s latest requests for Patriot interceptors.

Rubio acknowledged that a consignment of interceptors bought by European countries for Ukraine may not have been delivered, but denied that the US had changed policy.

“There has not been some deliberate political ​directive to go out and ‌harm Ukraine,” he said on a visit to India.

Hegseth said Washington had not pulled back Ukraine’s ability to access Starlink, which is owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, and appeared to signal that the problem rested with corporate terms of service Kyiv needed to comply with.

Musk has said Starshield, the military-grade version of SpaceX’s Starlink communications system, is controlled by the US government and any limits on its use are ultimately up to Trump.

The Wall Street Journal cited US officials and people familiar with the matter as saying that Musk ordered the slowdown after ​consulting with ​Trump and other administration officials.

While ​US ties with Ukraine have deteriorated, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukrainian cities, particularly targeting power stations and fuel, despite a call ‌from Trump for both sides to spare each other’s energy systems.

Russia bombarded cities in western Ukraine overnight, targeting electricity systems and knocking out power across swathes of the country that had previously been spared.

with Reuters and dpa

Anthropic has reported a net loss of more than $US80 billion ($A114 billion) in the first half of the year and signalled it could spend ‌as much as $US750 billion ($A1.1 trillion) in the coming years to secure more computing capacity, the Wall Street ‌Journal reports.

The loss, up from $US13 billion ($A19 billion) a year earlier, was driven by $US72 billion ($A103 billion) in ‌accounting charges tied to changes in the value of financial instruments Anthropic issued to raise money, the report said on Tuesday, citing a draft prospectus for its IPO.

The figures show the hefty costs of the AI race even as investors look harder at whether the money companies are pouring into chips and ‌data centres ‌will pay off.

Anthropic’s ⁠revenue jumped to $US16.3 billion ($A23.3 billion) in the six months ended June 30 ​from $US1.1 billion ($A1.6 billion) a year ago, while AI infrastructure spending nearly quadrupled to almost $US9 billion ($A13 billion), the Journal said.

Anthropic did not respond to a request for comment and Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

Reuters reported first in September that Anthropic posted a net loss of $US42 billion ($A60 billion) in ⁠2025, as part of a series of exclusives from ‌its ​IPO prospectus.

The company has benefited from the popularity of Claude Code, its coding assistant that developers ​use to write ‌software and build apps.

But some current investors and prospective investors who attended Anthropic’s investor day last ​week are weighing a lower valuation for the AI company after its latest financial disclosures, four people familiar with the matter had told Reuters.

The investors who attended the event ​in ​San Francisco discussed a valuation of around $US1.5 trillion ($A2.1 ​trillion), three of the people had said, a significant ‌step down from the roughly $US2 trillion ($A2.9 trillion) valuation previously expected for the November share sale.

Anthropic told investors at the meeting that its third-quarter revenue jumped 45 per cent to $US16.8 billion ($A24 billion) from the previous quarter, and that it was profitable on an adjusted basis during the quarter.

A cooler reception for Anthropic’s IPO could weigh ​on the wider AI market, whose near-term prospects investors see as hinging largely on the share ​sale’s success, ahead of ⁠rival OpenAI’s potential listing next year.

Netflix, which announced layoff plans last week, has posted a third-quarter profit above Wall Street’s expectations, but investors sent shares down after the streaming company lowered its ad sales guidance, prompting worries about slowing revenue growth.

Netflix said on Tuesday it earned $US3.66 billion ($A5.23 billion), or 87 cents per share, for the July-September period. 

That’s up 44 per cent from $US2.55 billion ($A3.64 billion), or 59 cents per share, a year earlier. 

Revenue rose 12 per cent to $US12.87 billion ($A18.39 billion) from $US11.51 billion ($A16.45 billion).

Analysts surveyed by FactSet predicted earnings of 82 cents per share on revenue of $US12.87 billion ($A18.39 billion).

“With Netflix under pressure to find alternative lines of revenue beyond subscriptions, it’s concerning that the company lowered its estimate for its ad business,” said Emarketer senior analyst Ross Benes.

“Revamping content strategy is not enough to fix this challenge but it is a worthwhile start. Guidance is not as aggressive as investors have grown accustomed to.”

Last week, the Los Gatos, California-based company announced that it plans to lay off about six per cent of its workforce, amounting to nearly 1,000 positions, as the company makes wider “organisational changes”.

At the end of 2025, per regulatory filings, Netflix had about 16,000 full-time employees worldwide.

The most recent layoff announcement marks the biggest round of cuts that the company has rolled out in years.

Netflix also announced last week that Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria will be replaced by Peter Rice. 

Bajaria was with Netflix for nearly a decade. Rice will lead Netflix’s global content organisation, overseeing scripted and unscripted series, film, live events and more across all regions. He takes over the post on Monday. 

While Netflix has benefited from membership signups and price increases, the company is dealing with intense competition in the streaming sector from companies such as Amazon’s Prime Video and Disney+. 

There’s also Skydance, after Paramount’s $US81 billion ($A116 billion) buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery put HBO Max and Paramount+ under the same roof. 

Netflix walked away from its offer to buy Warner Bros Discovery’s studio and streaming business in February.

Shares of Netflix fell $US2.79 ($A3.99), or 4.1 per cent, to $US65.90 ($A94.18) in after-hours trading after the results came out. 

As of Tuesday’s close, Netflix’s stock is down about 25 per cent for the year to date. Analysts see several factors contributing to its difficulties.

“Investors are concerned about soft engagement trends, decelerating revenue growth, a slower margin expansion outlook, and most recently content executive leadership changes,” said John Belton, portfolio manager at Gabelli Funds. 

with dpa

A man accused of striking independent MP Helen Haines with his vehicle in an allegedly targeted life-threatening attack outside her electorate office is facing multiple charges.

Police late on Monday charged Tarrawingee man Brendan Nugent, 43, with dangerous driving causing serious injury, intentionally cause serious injury and causing harm to a Commonwealth public official.

He will face Wangaratta Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.

“Police will allege the incident was targeted,” Victoria Police said in a statement.

Dr Haines was hit by a Toyota LandCruiser outside her electorate office in Wangaratta, northern Victoria, on Monday afternoon.

She underwent emergency surgery at The Alfred hospital in Melbourne but one of her legs could not be saved.

The 65-year-old remains in a critical but stable condition.

A nearby highway patrol unit was on the scene within eight seconds of the call coming through, police said.

Officers searched a property on Great Alpine Road in Tarrawingee, near Wangaratta, on Tuesday.

“At this stage it appears this is an isolated incident, and there are currently no other known threats connected to this matter,” police said.

In a statement, his father Rod Nugent and Rod’s partner Christine Cunningham said Dr Haines had been their friend for more than 20 years.

“What happened to her yesterday is devastating and unfathomable,” they said.

“We would like to sincerely thank members of the local community and police who came to Helen’s aid yesterday after the shocking and horrific crime. We will be assisting Victoria Police in any way we can.

“Helen Haines is a deeply respected, valued and much loved member of our local community.”

The 65-year-old was at the boot of her car when the four-wheel drive allegedly made a U-turn, hit her, reversed and hit her again, according to witness accounts relayed by government ministers.

Dr Haines’ husband Phil, daughter Georgia and sons Nick and Will were seen briefly emerging from the hospital on Tuesday afternoon, where they have been at her bedside.

Nugent had reportedly been apprehended behind the wheel of the LandCruiser by local barber Ricky Jefferies, who says the driver had a knife, before police arrived to detain him. 

Back in town, locals crowded a church for a vigil in support of Dr Haines.

In the neighbouring federal electorate of Nicholls, Nationals MP Sam Birrell said he had tried to stick to business as usual.

“I still went to the two country towns to speak to the grade 6’s at the primary school. I walked down the street to catch up with some businesses,” he told AAP.

“(I) was probably more aware of my surroundings, a little bit more than I had been.”

Counter-terrorism authorities are investigating the incident.

There was no recent evidence Nugent was on authorities’ radar before the alleged attack, Victoria Police Acting Superintendent Ashley Mason said on Tuesday.

It appeared to be a standalone incident with no enduring danger, AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett said.

Federal and Victorian police have briefed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, along with Victorian Premier Ben Carroll.

The AFP is gearing up to deliver more security briefings to federal MPs after reporting a rise in threats against parliamentarians, high office-holders and electorate officers in recent years.

A task force to disrupt high-impact, politically motivated violence and similar potential crimes has already charged 41 people for threatening politicians and higher-ups since being established in October 2025, according to the agency.

The Australian share market has fallen, dragged down by the big banks and major miners amid a disappointing quarterly production update from BHP and major job cuts at NAB.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index clawed back some of its early losses in afternoon trading on Tuesday, finishing near the day’s highs.

It closed 28.8 points lower at 8816.9, a 0.33 per cent drop, after it had been down by as much as 98 points, or 1.1 per cent, in the first hour of trading.

The All Ordinaries dropped 31.5 points, or 0.35 per cent, to 8944.2.

Betashares investment strategist Hugh Lam said the ASX might be reflecting the caution seen across Asia, with South Korea and Japan’s markets also failing to participate in an overnight tech-led relief rally on Wall Street.

Losses for BHP were a 14.3 point drag on the ASX200 on Tuesday, accounting for almost half of its losses.

The Big Australian fell 1.6 per cent to $59.50 after disclosing its quarterly copper output had dropped 19 per cent to around 400,000 tonnes, well below analyst expectations.

“BHP has left itself very little margin for error on copper this year,” said Josh Gilbert, eToro’s lead APAC analyst. 

It would have to average 415,000 tonnes over each of the next three quarters just to reach the bottom end of its guidance for 2026/27, he said.

Elsewhere in the sector, Rio Tinto dropped 0.4 per cent to $154.84 and South32 lost 2.4 per cent to $4.440.

Goldminers were also under pressure as the yellow metal fell $10 to trade at $US4,149 an ounce, with Evolution retreating 1.4 per cent and Northern Star slipping 1.7 per cent.

In financials, NAB retreated 1.8 per cent to $39.20 after the big four bank announced it plans to lay off 2500 workers over 2026/27.

The business-focused bank said the job cuts would make it a stronger bank, but the fact that losses were more modest for the other big banks suggested traders were concerned about the strategy.

Westpac and ANZ both lost 0.8 per cent, to $35.13 and $38.98, respectively, while CBA edged 0.1 per cent higher at $155.60. 

Elsewhere in the sector, HUB24 gained 3.9 per cent to $67.08 after the investment management platform used by financial advisers to manage client portfolios reported $4 billion in net inflows in the first quarter.

In real estate, Ingenia Group climbed 9.7 per cent to $4.65 after the retirement community operator said it was granting a US private equity firm an extension to come to terms on its takeover offer.

Warburg Pincus has floated a tentative price of $5.25 per stapled security, and the two sides now have until Friday to sign a deal.

In health care, Cochlear rose 5.2 per cent to $139.40, while Starpharma slid by a third to a six-month low of 50 cents after taking majority ownership of a UK-based biotech, Petalion Therapeutics.

In currency, the Australian dollar was trading at 69.81 US cents, up from 69.73 US cents at 5pm on Monday.

ON THE ASX:

* The S&P/ASX200 dropped 28.8 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 8816.9

* The broader All Ordinaries fell 31.5 points, or 0.35 per cent, to 8944.2

One Australian dollar trades for:

* 69.81 US cents, from 69.73 US cents at 5pm on Monday

* 110.42 Japanese yen, from 110.25 Japanese yen

* 62.17 euro cents, from 62.12 euro cents

* 52.37 British pence, from 52.32 pence

* 122.96 NZ cents, from 123.24 NZ cents

One of Australia’s biggest banks is the latest to make sweeping job cuts, with 2500 roles on the chopping block, sparking backlash from unions and industry experts.

The National Australia Bank announced to the stock exchange on Tuesday 1500 jobs will be axed before the end of 2026.

The timing could not be worse for workers, who were already buckling under massive workloads and unrealistic targets, Finance Sector Union national assistant secretary Nicole McPherson told reporters.

“We have real fears about the financial security of workers at NAB and their wellbeing, given that these 1500 job losses are going to be right on the eve of Christmas,” she said. 

“The remaining 1000 workers will have to wait in limbo until sometime in the new year to see if they have any job at all.”

Most workers were told of the redundancies by email on Tuesday morning, the union said. 

“The lack of detail provided by NAB has only compounded worker anxiety, with no one knowing exactly which areas of the business are going to be targeted,” Ms McPherson said.

A total of 2500 staff – or about six per cent of the bank’s workforce – are set to go over the full financial year.

The move was designed to make the bank more efficient and would have no material impact on customer-facing positions, NAB chief executive Andrew Irvine said.

”These changes are expected to improve outcomes for customers by reducing duplication and speeding up decision-making,” he said in a statement to investors.

”We know this will be a difficult period for our colleagues impacted by these changes as well as the people around them.”

The bank will also reduce its use of consultants and external contractors.

Union officials met with NAB on Tuesday to question whether AI was behind the planned job cuts.

“They said they would need to come back to us,” Ms McPherson said.

The cuts were expected to result in restructuring costs of about $300 million in the 2027 financial year, NAB said.

In May, the bank reported a near-20 per cent fall in 2026 first-half statutory net profit, although its preferred metric of cash net profit – which excludes large items – was flat at $3.59 billion against the same period a year earlier.

NAB’s result was supported by strong growth of 5.4 per cent in its business and private banking arm and a higher net interest margin, which reflected its earnings on lending activity.

The job cuts raised broader questions about what was driving the restructure, Swinburne governance expert Helen Bird told AAP.

She said transparency was needed on whether AI would replace the job losses.

“Transparency is absolutely vital and you have to be really honest from the get-go, so there are no illusions about what’s happening here,” Ms Bird said.

“This is no doubt an early example of the large-scale employment cuts we will see in the coming years.”

Ms Bird said NAB needed to explain how cutting thousands of roles would deliver the efficiency.

The bank is the latest to announce sweeping job cuts, after rival ANZ drew widespread criticism for its “unhinged” decision to cut thousands of jobs.

ANZ announced in 2025 it would slash 3500 staff and 1000 contractors by September 2026 as part of a $560 million plan to simplify operations.

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has also been preparing to axe 140 jobs across the company, according to the union.

A leading regional bank has dodged the embarrassment of a first strike on executive pay after lapses in its financial crime and risks systems that will cost it millions to fix.

The remuneration report for Bendigo and Adelaide Bank was passed by the annual general meeting on Tuesday with 84.8 per cent of shares in support and 15.2 per cent against, well clear of the 75 per cent supermajority it needed to pass.

Financial crime agency AUSTRAC in December launched an investigation into whether the bank complied with its obligations on money laundering regulations. 

The bank reported itself to regulators after a review by Deloitte found serious bank-wide shortcomings following suspicious activity at one branch that resulted in four arrests.

Banking regulator APRA also required the bank to hold an additional $50 million in operational risk capital, and the bank expects its rectification plan will cost it $70 million over three years.

Chief executive and managing director Richard Fennell told the meeting he was ultimately accountable for the bank’s deficiencies in managing non-financial risk and resolving them. 

“My number one priority is to fix these issues,” he said. 

“There is a great deal of work ahead of us.”

In response to the problems, the board cut the short-term bonuses for the bank’s core leadership team.

Mr Fennell lost $397,000 and four other executives lost between $258,000 and $321,000.

As a result, the chief executive made $1.75 million for 2025/26, down from $2.4 million the year before.

A number of additional awards are on hold for other key personnel while the bank conducts its own investigation, and none of the leadership received any raises in 2025/26, chairwoman Vicki Carter told the meeting.

Ms Carter said identification and management was fundamental to the bank’s business and its licence to operate and apologised for it not meeting expectations on the issue.

The lender reported on Monday that it made $112.7 million in cash earnings for the September quarter, up 18.5 per cent from its average earnings over the previous two quarters.