Komfie Manalo

A Magistrate court has spared a bank employee who helped a friend steal $115,500 from customers' accounts at Westpac, from serving jail time and instead sent her to a community-based service.

Australian health officials on Thursday warned the public against Legionnaires' disease (Legionella pneumophila) among a small number of travelers returning from the Kuta region of Bali, Indonesia since August 2010.

Zacks Investment Research on Tuesday issued a research note to investors downgrading Westpac Banking Co., shares from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating.

The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index fell 5.7% m/m in January to 104.6, following a slight increase of 0.2% in December.

A study by MacQuarie University professors John McAneney and Kevin Rochie points to societal changes, increase in population, wealth and inflation as the reason the cost of destruction brought about the the flooding in Queensland rose and not climate change.

Many a top women tennis player have held the No. 1 ranking but have not won any Grand Slam tournament.

A new business task force was created Tuesday by Prime Minister Julia Gillard to specifically address the problems of the business sectors affected by the devastating floods in Queensland.

The Digital Economy and Broadband Application missiono organized by the Australian Trade Commission - Austrade - to Japan, South Korea and Singapore late last year, has shown that opportunities for Australian ICT's abound in Asia.

Australian Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing Catherine King on Tuesday praised organs and tissue transplant donors which saved and extended the lives of others who are in need. King disclosed that data showed that a record number of 309 deceased Australians donated their organs and tissue for transplant during 2010.

It's official. The Australian Capital Territory is now the best performing economy in Australia after eclipsing West Australia, according to the latest data from CommSec State of the States.

Despite her ferocious effort in the first round of the Australian Open Thursday night and a gleaming endorsement from Tennis Australia who dubbed her as a future hope for local tennis, Australia's Department of Immigration has ruled the Russian-born Arina Rodionova will remain a Russian and denied her petition for an Australian citizenship.

Media and telecommunication companies are embracing the new digital technologies and giving consumers wider data allowances, mobile caps and pricing, together with internet and VoIP bundling and "smart phone" features on their home handsets. The competition has indeed benefited consumers.

The SES is asking people to be aware of people attempting to illegally scam money in relation to the Queensland and NSW floods.

Australian commercial law firm Middletons has announed it has entered its sixth year as the official supplier of legal services for the Australian Open, a partnership that is now confirmed for another four years.

In what is seen as a threat to Australia's apple industry, the first container of imported Chinese apples arrived Sunday to be sold to local in the coming days.

Abnormal amount of rains and flooding of "Bibilical proportion" triggered by the La Niña phenomenon continued to bring destruction and miseries in Australia and Brazil on Sunday, claiming the lives of thousands of people and tens of thousands more without homes.

World's leading and most diverse derivatives market place CME Group Inc., has announced the completion of the refinancing of its three-year revolving credit and term loan agreement with an original maturity date of August 2011.

Midway Market Neutral Fund returned an estimated 3.25% in December, net of fees and expenses. This brings our unaudited 2010 net return to 53.47%. This was a particularly successful year for Midway's investors. While we are indeed pleased with this absolute return, we are even more pleased knowing that it was produced with a low relative risk profile.

Mr Kim Wong, former Managing Director of Wintech Group Limited (Wintech), has appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court after his arrest on nine criminal charges following an ASIC investigation.

A survey by Hedge Fund Compensation showed that majority of hedge fund professionals are expecting higher annual pay and bonuses as the hedge fund industry posted better-than-expected returns last year.

Managed futures gained 2.85% in December according to the Barclay CTA Index compiled by BarclayHedge. The Index was up 6.26% for the year.

Australia's securities watchdog on Wednesday pledges continues support to companies and office holders in flood affected areas throughout Queensland who may be experiencing difficulties with lodgements, notifications and fee payments.

The Australian securities regulator on Wednesday issued a class order which aims to clarify and standardise reporting of short positions in the Australian securities market.

As the Philippine airline industry awaits with caution anytime this week President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino's issuance of an executive order paving the way for the adoption of open skies policy all over the country, former presidential son and now Ang Galing Pinoy Rep. Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo on Tuesday warned the Palace against the adverse repercussion the new presidential edict might bring.

Former Macquarie Equities Limited client advisor, Mr Newton Chan was today sentenced in the Supreme Court of Victoria to a term of 20 months imprisonment following an investigation by ASIC into the manipulation of the share price of Bill Express Limited (BXP) (now in liquidation).

GSO Capital Partners LP, the credit business of The Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX), has announced the final closing of the Blackstone / GSO Capital Solutions Fund (“the Fund”) with total commitments of over $3.25 billion. The Fund’s strategy is focused on providing privately negotiated “capital solutions” to companies in need of liquidity or significant capital structure transformation due to pending covenant violations, debt maturities, cyclical downturns in their businesses or other funding r...

Hedge funds as measured by the Greenwich Global Hedge Fund Index (“GGHFI”) cut net exposures and limited the losses experienced by markets in June. The GGHFI shed 0.84% compared to global equity returns in the S&P 500 Total Return -5.23%, MSCI World Equity -3.56%, and FTSE 100 -5.23% equity indices. 42% of constituent funds in the GGHFI ended the month with gains.

ASIC today released a consultation paper on new laws regulating mortgage early exit fees which are unconscionable or unfair.

ASIC has permanently banned Mr Steven James Ker of Palmyra, Western Australia from providing financial services.