☕️Dodgy Dealings

Good morning.

As regulators begin probing instances of bank fraud, the referral programs run by the Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and ANZ to win mortgage business are facing growing scrutiny, with AUSTRAC issuing a fresh warning to the major banks to closely monitor the professionals funnelling them business under referral programs.

These programs typically involve lawyers, accountants, real estate agents and other professionals being paid kickbacks in exchange for referring borrowers to lenders.

AUSTRAC chief executive Brendan Thomas tells Capital Brief the upcoming Tranche 2 reforms, which will require those same intermediaries to report suspicious activity, were designed to address “long‑standing vulnerabilities in professional services that can be exploited to facilitate money laundering, including in real estate, legal and accounting services”.

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Market movers

Shares in Telix Pharmaceuticals surged on Tuesday after the cancer therapeutics company reported positive early-stage results from its global phase 3 trial of TLX591, an advanced prostate cancer treatment, removing what Citi analyst Laura Sutcliffe described as a key overhang for the stock and lifting confidence that the trial's second stage would proceed as planned in the US.

The quick sync

• Government digital projects keep failing because they design for the hardest user first, write Amit Singh and Pat McGrath. (Capital Brief)

• The Iran war has pushed Australian petrol past $2, and economists warn it may just be the beginning. (Capital Brief)(Capital Brief)

• The government must write better rules to stop big platforms locking out new entrants, Andrew Leigh argues. (Capital Brief)

• Angus Taylor faces the real prospect of losing a seat held by the Coalition since the 1940s before he has even had the chance to outline a policy agenda. (Capital Brief)

Trading floor

M&A

• Regal Partners eyes M&A, targeting Roc Partners’ private credit unit. (AFR)

• Fortescue bought Alta Copper for CAD139m to fully own the Cañariaco copper project in Peru. (Capital Brief)

• Mercer passes on Colonial First State amid $5b+ sale with KKR and CBA. (The Australian)

• I Squared Capital hires Azure Capital to sell Octa. (AFR)

• Brookfield puts $500m-a-year Ausco Modular up for sale to cut parent debt. (AFR)

• TPG Capital’s sale of Made Group heats up, with Danone and Kirin leading the race. (The Australian)

• Wesfarmers accused of blocking Infinity Pharmacy Group sale, forcing receivership. (AFR)

Capital Markets

• Air New Zealand scrapped its FY26 outlook as Middle East conflict drives jet fuel prices sharply higher. (Capital Brief)

• Imugene raises $20m for donor-based CAR-T therapy azer-cel. (AFR)

• AirTrunk raised a $1.7b green loan to expand its Tokyo data centre for cloud and AI growth. (Capital Brief)

• CSL Limited will spend $2.1b to expand its Illinois plasma therapy manufacturing plant. (Capital Brief)

• Orica Limited expects strong early FY2026 earnings and plans a $100m cost-saving program. (Capital Brief)

• Kerry Stokes’s SGH Holdings targets Bingo Industries, citing synergies with Boral. (The Australian)

• Pantoro Gold cuts FY26 production guidance by 15% after cyclone-related delays. (Capital Brief)

• Cortical Labs unveils first human brain cell-powered data centre in Melbourne. (Capital Brief)

• Commonwealth Bank chair warns US tech risks Australia’s economy and way of life. (Capital Brief)

• Short interest jumps in Wagners Holding before Wagner family sell-down. (AFR)

• Ridley Corporation shares rise on growth plan, highlighting Middle East resilience. (Capital Brief)

• Westpac: Consumer sentiment improves slightly in March but dips on Iran war worries. (Capital Brief)

• Telix Pharmaceuticals shares jump on positive prostate cancer trial results. (Capital Brief)

• Canva outpaces Claude, Grok, and Deepseek in generative AI user rankings. (Smart Company)

• Australia home values top $12t as Western Australia leads growth. (Capital Brief)

• Commonwealth Bank: Wages growth steady at 3.1% despite tight labour market. (Capital Brief)

• Bank of America forecasts RBA rate hike next week amid Middle East-driven inflation risk. (Capital Brief)

• Iran conflict fuels Australian inflation fears, pressuring the Reserve Bank. (Capital Brief)

• Amazon kicks off $52–$59b bond sale for AI growth. (AFR)

• Lynas Rare Earths extends Japan rare earths supply deal to 2038 with pricing safeguards. (Capital Brief)

• Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square files for US$10b IPO. (Capital Brief)

• Andrew Leigh calls Australian tech innovation a “team sport,” pledges government support. (Capital Brief)

• UBS is gauging private equity interest in Qscan ahead of a $1b auction in six months, overlapping with I-Med’s $3b float. (The Australian)

• Nvidia invests in Thinking Machines Lab, supplying AI chips. (Capital Brief)

• G7 asks International Energy Agency to plan emergency oil release scenarios. (Capital Brief)

• Raagulan Pathy builds major Australian fintech to enter US crypto payments market. (AFR)

• Government digital services lag by designing for the last user, not the first. (Capital Brief)

• AUSTRAC warns banks on referral program fraud risks. (Capital Brief)

• Mark Carney warns global turmoil may entrench inflation as the new normal. (Capital Brief)

VC 

• Partners for Growth launches $250m fund for later-stage Australian tech firms. (AFR)

• Mary Technology raises $7m to expand its litigation data platform to the US. (Capital Brief)

People moves

• David Littleproud resigns as Nationals leader; McKenzie, Hogan, Canavan and McCormack enter leadership race. (Capital Brief)

• Ronalee Balog claims Macquarie ignored her fraud concerns, leading to dismissal. (AFR)

• ACS appoints Prins Ralston as CEO after Josh Griggs departs. (Startup Daily)

• Kyle Sandilands defends $100m ARN Media contract after being pulled off air. (AFR)

The watercooler