Garry is a Senior Business Writer having worked with major media companies including the Australian Financial Review, Reuters, The Times and Euromoney, in a journalism career spanning over 20 years. He has also worked as a stockbroking analyst.

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From supplying dresses to its department stores as a teenager to becoming the largest shareholder of the company almost 60 years later, Solomon Lew’s relationship with Australian retailing icon Myer has swing back and forth over the decades.

In between, the veteran of Australia’s retailing industry has gone from chairing board meetings to being ejected as a director and sniping from the sidelines as a disaffected shareholder calling for better performance from the 124-year-old chain.

On 23 January Lew, 77, is set to return to the seat of power if shareholders approve a $1.1 billion deal under which his 40%-owned investment company Premier Investments sells apparel brands to Myer Holdings in return for 51.5% shareholding.

These new shares, and Premier’s existing 26% Myer stake, will be distributed to Premier shareholders including Lew’s Century Plaza Group, making him the largest direct shareholder with a 26.8% stake and also a seat on the Myer Board.

“The combination of the Apparel Brands business with Myer is an opportunity for us all to play an important role in the future of the Australian and New Zealand retail landscape,” Lew told the Premier Investments annual meeting in December.



“The combination of Myer

Retail veteran returns to turn around department stores

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has urged the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to ban surcharges on credit and debit cards as the central bank considers the future of Australia’s A$1 trillion-plus payments system.

CBA said it had noted in recent years a shift to contactless payments and e-commerce and an increase in payments solutions that sit outside the RBA’s bank’s mandate and regulation, including buy now, pay later, digital wallets and three party schemes.

In a response to an RBA issues paper, Australia’s largest bank said it supported the spirit of the review because payments affected all consumers and businesses and the safety, reliability, efficiency and convenience of the system was paramount.

CBA asked the central bank not to formulate policy responses to some of the matters raised in its issues paper, which would be possible only when the Payment System Regulation Act (PSRA) was amended.

The remaining issues for consultation could be addressed without changes to the PSRA, including surcharging, which is the imposition of an additional fee by a merchant or institutions for card payments.

“We believe the most impactful initiative would be to address surcharging on debit and credit,” the CBA said in its

CBA urges RBA to scrap credit and debit card surcharges

Investment firm CC Capital Partners LLC has thrown down the gauntlet to its larger rival bidder Bain Capital by raising its takeover offer for Insignia Financial.

Insignia said it had received a revised non-binding and indicative offer from CC Capital of A$4.60 cash per share, which values the company at $3.1 billion, up from the $4.30 cash per share offered by both bidders previously.

The company said in an ASX announcement the offer was subject to the same terms and conditions as the initial proposal, advising shareholders to take no action as the Board and its advisers decided whether to engage with CC Capital.

The company repeated its previous statement that there was no certainty the proposal would result in a binding offer or a transaction.

In the space of about one month, the 178-year-old financial services group has received two non-binding and conditional bids each from Bain and CC Capital amid speculation that asset management giant Brookfield might enter the fray as a third bidder.

Bain included in its proposal the potential for shareholders who accepted the offer to receive shares in the ultimate holding company if the buyout proceeds.

The top seven shareholders owned more than 58% of the target in Au

CC Capital fires back in bidding war for Insignia

One of Australia’s largest telecommunications companies Aussie Broadband



has announced that co-founder and Group Managing Director Phillip Britt will step down.

Aussie Broadband said Britt would retire as Group Managing Director on 28 February 2025 to become Non-executive Director and Special Technical Adviser to pursue a personal community-focused venture in the Gippsland region where he still lives.

Chief Executive Officer Brian Maher, who joined Aussie Broadband in 2019 as Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary, will be appointed as Group Chief Executive Officer from 1 March 2025.



Chair Adrian Fitzpatrick said Britt had been responsible for the rapid growth of Aussie Broadband over the last 20 years from a regional internet service provider to a national telecommunications company with a diversified product and customer base.

This included the formation of Wideband Networks in 2003, the merger in 2008 with Westvic Broadband to form Aussie Broadband, the public listing on the ASX in 2020 and the acquisitions of Over the Wire and Symbio in 2022 and 2024.

“He has a proven track record of delivering innovative solutions in the telecommunications industry,” Fitzpatrick said in an ASX announcement.

Aussie telco appoints new boss as co-founder retires

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will use bond data to identify rental property owners who fail to lodge tax returns or misreport income and capital gains.

The ATO said it would collect the rental bond details of about 2.2 million people from state and territory regulators to expand its program of matching external data with its own to identify tax evasion.

The objectives of the program are to:
identify and educate people and businesses who fail to lodge tax returns, correctly report assessable income and allowable deductions from a property, and comply with capital gains tax obligations
develop and implement strategies including educational or compliance activities, and


promote voluntary compliance and increase community confidence in the integrity of the tax and super systems.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will acquire rental bond data from state and territory rental bond regulators bi-annually for the 2023–24 through to the 2025–26 financial years.

“The rental bond data-matching program will allow us to identify and address tax risks,” the ATO said.

“Taxpayers with a rental property may fail to lodge a tax return and their rental property schedule on or before the relevant due date”.

The ATO

Rentals: ATO cracks down on tax-evading landlords

Bank of Queensland (BOQ) has been rapped over the knuckles for charging fees to the estates of dead customers.

The Banking Code Compliance Committee (BCCC) said it had sanctioned BOQ for serious and systemic breaches of the Banking Code of Practice.



The BCCC said BOQ and its subsidiary brands BOQ Specialist and Virgin Money Australia failed to stop or refund fees and interest incorrectly charged to the estates of deceased customers between 2019 and 2023 on more than 2,500 occasions.

BOQ incorrectly charged $158,834 in fees and interest to the estates, potentially adding unnecessary financial and emotional distress to grieving families and representatives.



BCCC Chair Ian Govey said the breaches were serious.

“The decision to name BOQ reflects the severity and systemic nature of the compliance failings,” Govey said in a media release.



“We expect banks to take swift and effective action to address non-compliance and prevent further harm to customers. BOQ’s deficiencies and inadequate response fell below our expectations.”

The BCCC, an independent monitoring body that oversees the adherence of banks to the Code, said the breaches were compounded by BOQ’s delays in identifying and addressing underlying

BOQ called out for charging its dead customers fees

A veteran competition regulator has been appointed to run corporate regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

Scott Gregson will join ASIC as Chief Executive Officer on 17 March 2025 after a career of almost 30 years with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

ASIC Chair Joe Longo said Gregson, who replaces the retiring interim CEO Greg Yenco, had stood out in an executive search of domestic and international candidates.

“Scott is an impressive leader and will bring extensive experience to this important role at ASIC,” Longo said in a media release.

“His commitment to achieving regulatory outcomes that benefit all Australians makes him a strong addition to support ASIC’s commission and head the agency’s executive leadership team.”

Longo said the appointment was the next step in ASIC’s transformation following the organisation’s most significant redesign in 15 years and followed appointments of new executive directors in a range of areas.

ASIC has faced criticism in recent years over its effectiveness, particularly in prosecuting complex cases, and has been hampered by funding restraints.

Gregson, who joined the ACCC as a graduate in 1996, spent much of his time

New head cop to walk the beat in corporate Australia

More than 25% of Australia’s small business owners dipped into their savings or did not pay themselves a salary as they faced cash flow problems in the last year, according to a survey commissioned by Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA).

CBA said almost 80% of Australian small to medium businesses (SMBs) experienced impact to their cash flow in the last 12 months because of falling revenue (35%), low cash reserves (30%) and seasonal fluctuations (27%).



About 85% of surveyed businesses used cash flow management strategies such as reviewing or decreasing expenses (34%), maintaining a cash reserve (27%), finding new revenue streams (26%) and increasing sales and/or pricing (25%).

“However, more than a quarter of Aussie small businesses (27%) dipped into personal savings or didn’t pay themselves a salary, or both, in the last year,” the bank said in a media release.

CBA Executive General Manager Small Business Banking Rebecca Warren said it was important for crucial business owners to have the knowledge to apply the strategies that were important for long-term business success.

“It’s not surprising that the economic challenges of the past year have resulted in cash-flow impacts for many Australian SMBs,” Warren sai

Small business owners raid savings as cash flow dries up

Equities have a much stronger feel ahead of the start of Australian trading in the aftermath of a surge in stocks on Wall Street overnight.

The best indicator of how the market will trade from 10 am AEDT (11 pm GMT) is in the futures market where the S&amp;P/ASX 200 March share price index contract was 104 points or 1.26% at 8,202 points at 9:45 am AEDT.

The bullish tone was set in New York where the three major indices rocketed higher in response to news that core inflation had dropped more than forecast and as the big banks unveiled strong earnings results.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 1.7%, the S&amp;P 500 climbed 1.8% and the Nasdaq Composite led gains surged 2.5%.

U.S. core inflation, which excludes volatile elements, rose by 3.2% year-over-year versus the 3.3% expected, while JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo and Citigroup handed down impressive fourth quarter results.

The S&amp;P/ASX 200 had closed 0.22% lower on Wednesday at 8,213.30.

On fixed interest markets, Australian Government bonds yields were moving in different directions with 10 year paper up 0.09% at 4.529% and two-year paper down at 0.13% at 3.936%.

Wall Street seen putting a rocket under ASX shares

The Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund is reported to be planning to buy a 10% stake in global streaming business DAZN, the loss-making sports network that is buying Australian subscription Foxtel.

The US$1 billion (A$$1.6 billion) investment had been under consideration by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) for at least one year as DAZN was haemorrhaging cash, according to sources quoted by the New York Times.

Saudi Arabia, under de facto rule by Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, has become the world’s largest investors in sports in recent years as it diversifies its economy away from oil and DAZN has been a key broadcaster of Saudi backed ventures in soccer, tennis and boxing.

London-based DAZN is owned by Len Blavatnik, a British and U.S. citizen who was raised in Moscow and has an estimated net wealth of $US40 billion.

Last month it agreed to buy Foxtel from News Corporation and Telstra for an enterprise value of A$3.4 billion in a deal expected to be completed in the first half of this year.

DAZN is poised to break even after more than $5 billion of accumulated losses, according to media reports.

Saudis eyeing $US1bn-plus stake in new Foxtel owner

Garry is a Senior Business Writer having worked with major media companies including the Australian Financial Review, Reuters, The Times and Euromoney, in a journalism career spanning over 20 years. He has also worked as a stockbroking analyst. | Azzet™

Garry West

Retail veteran returns to turn around department stores

CBA urges RBA to scrap credit and debit card surcharges

CC Capital fires back in bidding war for Insignia

Aussie telco appoints new boss as co-founder retires

Rentals: ATO cracks down on tax-evading landlords

BOQ called out for charging its dead customers fees

New head cop to walk the beat in corporate Australia

Small business owners raid savings as cash flow dries up

Wall Street seen putting a rocket under ASX shares

Saudis eyeing $US1bn-plus stake in new Foxtel owner

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