Australia’s central bank bars Canadian investment bank from private briefings after leak

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s central bank has barred Canada’s global investment bank from confidential briefings after one of its clients leaked details from a closed door briefing, two sources aware of the decision said on Tuesday.

This is the second instance of a leak after the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) was criticised last year when then Governor Philip Lowe briefed traders at a private meeting hosted by Barrenjoey Capital Partners, after the central bank surprised markets with a hawkish outlook on rates.

Assistant Governor Christopher Kent met with economists and trading clients of RBC Capital Markets, the investment banking arm of Royal Bank of Canada, in February after the RBA held the cash rate steady at 4.35%, two sources told Reuters. The sources did not want to be identified as the discussions were private.

Following the meeting, RBC Capital Markets’ trading client shared what Kent said at the briefing with an external associate, the sources said.

When RBC discovered this leak it proactively revealed the information to the RBA, and the central bank put a 12-month ban on RBC for the breach, one of the source said.

RBC Capital Markets and the RBA declined to comment on the matter.

The story was first reported by the Australian Financial Review on Tuesday.

Michele Bullock took over from Lowe as RBA governor in September last year. Lowe joined the board of Barrenjoey last month.

When asked about the issue, Australia’s Treasurer Jim Chalmers said it was not for the government to manage or police agreements between the Reserve Bank and the commercial banks.

“But I do share the concern …. that some elements of confidentiality may have been breached, and I’m sure that our colleagues at the bank are working through what that means for the way that they conduct those briefings and who’s involved,” Chalmers told reporters in a news briefing in Canberra.