westpac st. george

No one has yet questioned the liquidity of either Westpac or St. George. One assumes in the media especially that they have a scale rule that mgically goes through the figures put out by both Banks as being the gospel truth.

It would be prudent of the regulators, APRA, the Take Overs Panel, AISC and the Competition and Consumer Commission as well as the treasurer Wayne Swan to order a spot audit of both Westpac and St. george and to do it now.

Raising capital is one thing. With large institutions now household names the public and beholden underwriters will put up their hands without question. The money is then used to paper up cracks till the pressure becmoes to heavy to bear and innocent shareholders and investors usffer.

There is economies of scale to be had in large numbers. It can work miracles and cure some ills. But we have to have the fundamentals right. Threats to sue for defamation and to seek unspecified damages for revealing what is really a known but oft concealed and not talked about known is a cowardly way of going about efficiency, management and compliance.

Two other banks are considering a merger (called takeover this time). My fear is that they have already consulted with the treasury in Canberra to discuss the awful mess these banks find themselves in after having realised the 'assets' they hold on their books have turned out to be largely 'nightmarish liabilities'.

The take over of St. George should not go ahead at least if the new CEO wants to maintain her credibility. Others may have labour mates but the numbers won't stack up in the end.

An insider has begun to crow. It is when they sing that both banks ought to be worried. The writing has been on the wall for sometime. Intimidating informers and outers will not help nor is it the answer.

We need to rid our banks and other institutions of well worn cliched board members and managers from the same old schools and social pedigree and hire talent. Real Talent.