Bernard Hickey talks to Marcus Lush on Radio Live at 6.55am every week day morning about the key business and financial news of the day. Here is Tuesday's Edition. 1. ASB Bank said late on Monday night it had detected a serious case of fraud by an investment advisor providing advice to customers "involving several million dollars." ASB said the offending involved 22 customers, who had been identified and received restitution where irregularities had been confirmed. "We will continue to work with them to ensure that no customer is adversely affected," ASB said. ASB said it had sacked the employee who had worked for the bank for more than 10 years, who was also now under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office. 2. Spring has sprung for business confidence and it's all because of the housing sector's apparent recovery. A jump in construction industry confidence led a further increase in business sentiment in August, the latest National Bank Business Outlook Survey indicates. A net 64% of respondents from the construction industry said they expected better times in the year ahead. This was the best result since the early 1990s. A net 26% of all respondents said they expected better times in the year for their own business, up from a net 13% in July. This was the best result in 5 years and indicated a GDP growth rate of 3%, National Bank economist Cameron Bagrie said. We are making the same mistake all over again. 3. New Zealand's largest bank, ANZ National, has reported a 14% fall in underlying profit for the 9 months to June 30, citing a tripling of bad debt charges and a contraction in net interest margins. ANZ National's result was the poorest in the ANZ Banking Group and a reflection of the New Zealand economy being weaker than those in Australia and Asia where ANZ also operates. Hot competition for term deposits in New Zealand and higher foreign funding costs squeezed ANZ National's margins, contrary to claims by politicians that New Zealand's big four banks are profiteering.
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