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Old Mortgage News

Westpac figures suggest bank disclosure regime is broken

Monday 21st of February 2011

The numbers the bank's December quarter general disclosure statement (GDS) throw up on what's happening to its mortgage book are farcical.

The risk analysis part of the GDS which is used in calculating Westpac's capital adequacy - how much of a buffer there is between its assets and liabilities - show its mortgage book grew by $3.53 billion to $32.68 billion in the three months ended December.

That's after it grew just $210 million in the September quarter. That was 23.3% of all new bank lending in the September quarter compared with Westpac's then market share of 18.31%.

While we won't know exactly how much banks lent in mortgages during the December quarter until all the banks' GDSs are in, and it's looking like we won't be able to believe the figures anyway (Westpac's is the first to be lodged this quarter), Reserve Bank figures provide some idea. They show mortgage lending by registered banks grew by $422 million in the December quarter.

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