Australia

Bandits are increasingly blowing up ATM's down under and manufacturers are yet to come up with effective solutions.

Like a thief in the night came National Australia Bank to snare the top spot on the rungs of Australia’s banking ladder. And with growing fears of a recession plaguing banks down under, a USD2 billion cash injection could come as a shock. But the question is why does NAB have an extra AUD3 billion floating around in its coffers? The bank undertook a significant capital raising through the sale of its shares to institutional and retail investors, according to UBS analyst Jonathan Mott. Back in November, NAB announced both the institutional placement and retail share purchase plan. Mott said the bank raised capital in order “to strengthen its balance sheet and to finance organic growth.” But is it too little, too late for NAB, with local banks like Macquarie and ANZ already being slammed by the credit crunch? It seems the NAB’s timely capital raising efforts have given the bank the highest capital ratio of all the lenders down under, meaning it is well on its way to becoming the top dog in Australian banking. Mott estimates a “Tier 1 ratio of 8.13 percent for the 2009 financial year, which should place NAB towards the top end of peers. It is now ahead of its peers in terms of capital flexibility.” And with NAB scoring the first-mover’s advantage over its competition, it’s no surprise that the bank’s deputy CEO, Michael Ullmer is all smiles. “The group completed the placement before any other banks embarked on capital management initiatives,” he said.