A review of things you need to know before you go home on Monday; More TD rate cuts, RBNZ issues AML warning, wholesale sales up, Kiwis coming home faster, swap rates jump, NZD softer

Here are the key things you need to know before you leave work today.

MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
There are no changes to report today.

DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
Kiwibank has cut its 6 month TD rate by -10 bp to 3.50%. SBS Bank will end its 9 month 3.80% TD special at the end of today. BNZ has cut more at-call savings rates.

VOLUMES LOW, PRICE GROWTH SLOWS
Median house prices declined in Auckland in November, but rose across the rest of the country, according to the latest REINZ data out today. Compared with a year ago, November volumes were down -7%; Auckland volumes down -4%. Auckland's median house price was down -2% in November from October, but up +11% from the same month a year ago. On that basis, national median prices are up +13%.

RBNZ FORMALLY WARNS CREDIT UNION OVER AML COMPLIANCE
The Reserve Bank has issued a formal warning to Aotearoa Credit Union for not meeting four key anti-money laundering obligations including not conducting ongoing customer due diligence and account monitoring. The Reserve Bank says it has accepted an enforceable undertaking from Aotearoa Credit Union to review its risk assessment and anti-money laundering program and amend the identified deficiencies that contributed to its failure to meet its obligations. The Reserve Bank issued a press release on the credit union's warning, unlike a similar recent warning to TSB Bank, which was merely buried within the bowels of the regulator's website.

TWO IN A ROW IS SPECIAL
Wholesale trade sales rose again in the September 2016 quarter, after rising in the June 2016 quarter, Statistics New Zealand said today. Five of the six industry groups had increases, and on a seasonally adjusted basis we actually haven't had two consecutive quarterly rises since mid 2014. But the expansion is slowing. It was up +2.4% year-on-year in October compared with a gain of +4.0% in September. Inventory levels are up +2.1% but this growth has slowed markedly; in September 2015 they were up +5.7%.

KIWIS COMING HOME
Data released today by Stats NZ shows that the inflow of expat New Zealand citizens on a permanent basis has now reached its highest annual level since this detail was first collected in this form in 1979. In the year to October 2016, 31,300 of our permanent arrivals are citizens. On a net basis, the outflow has slowed to its smallest level since March 1984.

TAME TRADING HERE, NOT THERE
The dairy futures trading market is suggesting the price heat has gone out of WMP pricing. There has been very little change since the last auction event signaled in this derivatives market. And staying with things dairy, across the ditch, ASX darling, Tasmanian-based Bellamy's is in a share trading halt as sales for its infant formula have collapsed, probably due to many fewer Chinese tourists buying it in Aussie supermarkets and shipping it home.

GREEN LIGHT TO OPPRESSIVE BEHAVIOUR
In Australia, the Federal Court has exonerated supermarket giant Woolworths (Countdown in New Zealand) saying it did not behave unconscionably by demanding as much as A$60 million in stand-over cash from suppliers to plug a profit shortfall. They were accused of doing the same sort of thing to New Zealand suppliers. Apparently the Aussie courts think that is an ok tactic.

CAPITAL HUNGRY
Heartland Bank is in a growth phase and has decided it needs to raise another $30 mln in capital to support that growth. It has announced that capital raising today. By rough calculations, that should support about $300 mln in new lending. With a capital raising this small, it does suggest that their ambition to buy UDC from ANZ is not very serious.

SORRY II
The DOS attacks disappeared over the weekend, but resurfaced this morning. We are still fighting them, unfortunately. (If you think we've got issues, the Aussie tax office has much bigger ones. Their hardware is contracted to IBM Serices.)

WHOLESALE RATES RISE, STEEPEN FURTHER
Swap rates have risen further today, responding to the Wall Street rises on Friday. The two years is up +2 bps, the five year is up +4 bps, and the ten year is up another +5 bps. That puts the 1-5 curve at +79 bps, its highest in 19 months, and the 2-10 curve at +114 bps, its highest in 21 months. The 90-day bank bill is up +1 bp at 2.04%.

NZ DOLLAR SOFTER
The Kiwi dollar has slipped just a little today. It is now at 71.4 USc. On the cross rates it is at 95.7 AUc, and is up at over 67.7 euro cents. The TWI-5 now at 77.5. Check our real-time charts here.

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