Westpac’s interim result confirms that Australia has entered a new era in corporate lending with a shift from long-term relationship banking to aggressive hedge funds and bondholders.
This has significant long-term implications for the corporate sector. But the effects of this change are not likely to be felt acutely until there is a downturn in the economy.
The days when a chief executive experiencing difficulties with their balance sheet could call up their relationship banker are virtually dead and gone.
The big four Australian banks have embraced with alacrity the emergence of American and Asian domiciled hedge funds and bondholders.
This trend has been driven by the twin pressures of regulation and investor demands for …
Read the full article at: http://www.afr.com/brand/chanticleer/westpac-result-confirms-shift-in-corporate-lending-to-hedge-funds-bondholders-20170508-gw00u8