The Latest Breaking News from Australian Banking Association

Despite soaring profits for Australia's big four banks, that number in the billions, almost one-in-three of their branches have closed in the past five years and now a parliamentary committee is examining the impact of those closures, especially on regional centres.

Whenever interest rates went up in the past, I used to get told it wasn’t all bad news. At least it was good for some people: savers – people with money in the bank.

The new PM's enthusiasm for his role was palpable during his first offshore visit to Canberra, but more work may be needed on his foreign policy bona fides.

Three years after it was formed, the committee enforcing breaches of the Banking Code of Practice has used its most serious sanction just twice. That power is writing the name of a bank on a report.