My first take on these is that they seem to be trying to stick strictly to the bare minimum of disclosure – if disclosure is the right word. Last time, I gave them a distant third on the disclosures, with Westpac as tail-end Charlie. This time they are definately behind Westpac. The whole way it is written just seems to be to try to hide everything. For example the ANZ have not broken out the SL category other than in the RWA area. It complies (from memory) with APS 330 but, really guys, you should do better.

OK – brief look at the numbers (such as they are given). Capital, while the same total as before, is now better as more of it is tier one. Essentially, all of the capital raised recently will have been tier 1, so no real surprises there. Westpac was the same and I would be surprised if the others (when they deign to let us know) are any different.

The EAD numbers (the closest proxy we have to actual book size) reflect a not enormous change, with the increases in loan losses slightly more than counteracted by lending activity. Overall, this is a sign of some strength – but the only category to have increased in any material way is the “Sovereign” category, with the note saying this is due to increases in deposits with the US Fed.

As a side note I would be fascinated to see why the ANZ has over $11bn tied up with the US Federal Reserve. Perhaps this is why interest rate risk has dropped to zero – the deposits are all at call with the Fed. Odd. If the USD drops much it will hurt the bottom line immediately as these would all have to be held at fair value. As it is these will have helped over the last few months.

The rest of it is similar to the Westpac report – increased deliquencies and losses, but nothing to even come close to causing it any problems.

The disappointing thing is that they have cut back on the transparency.

So far then, Westpac was first (in both ways) and ANZ way behind. Come on NAB and CBA – show us the numbers. I think they will be instructive. I am looking forward to comparing portfolio strength across the banks, with the relative RWA to EAD numbers on the “Advanced” portfolios being a g

ood indicator.