Heather Ridout, CEO of the Australian Industry Group, has joined the Reserve Bank board, ahead of today’s interest rate decision.
Ridout, who has become a high-profile business lobbyist and has worked with the Federal Government in a number of consultative roles, replaces Graham Kraehe, chairman of BlueScope Steel, on the RBA board. She has been appointed for five years.
ANZ class action gets green light
A class action brought by 34,000 customers against the ANZ bank has been given the green light to proceed by the Federal Court.
Justice Michelle Gordon ruled that four fees charged by ANZ, including late payment fees, could be considered excessive and therefore illegal.
The $50 million lawsuit is the largest class action taken in Australian history.
Facebook unveils expansion plans
Facebook has unveiled its latest expansion plans, opening a software engineering centre in New York and reportedly purchasing location-based “check in” service Gowalla.
Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s COO, said: “We are trying to grow at a clip that will allow us to get the very best people and integrate them.”
“We will be adding thousands of employees in the next year.”
Overnight
The Dow Jones industrial average rose by 74.28 points, or 0.62%, to 12,093.70. The Australian dollar was up to 102.61 US cents.
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