THE NEWS WRAP: Bryce calls for boardroom quotas to break Australia’s ‘old boys’ club’

Governor-general Quentin Bryce has called for boardroom quotas to break the ‘old boys’ club’ mentality in Australian businesses.

Bryce’s call for affirmative action to get more women into boardrooms was backed by Joe Hockey on ABC’s Q&A last night. The Shadow Treasurer said that a quota of 30% female directors would be reasonable, an increase on the 8.4% currently present in Australia’s top 200 ASX-listed companies.

Bank interest rates may drop: Kelly

Small businesses may be set for a welcome drop in interest rates over the coming years as the cost of lending decreases, according to Westpac chief executive Gail Kelly.

Kelly told the ABC that banks may look to cut interest rates independently of the Reserve Bank in 2013 and 2014 as markets emerge from the economic downturn.

Google battles infected apps

Google is attempting a widespread clean-up of its Android apps after more than 50 of them were infected with viruses.

The search giant has sent emails to the owners of thousands of phones and tablets that have infected apps and has removed apps with malware.

Last Tuesday, Google deleted 21 free apps.

Overnight

The Dow Jones industrial average fell by 106.03 points to 12,063.85. The Australian dollar fell to 101.16 US cents.