Daily Dispatches: grads still love the i-banks

The pay may be good but the hours are long, the industry's image is tarnished and restless financial markets add a layer of uncertainty to the job. Who'd want to be an investment banker at the moment? Hundreds, it would seem. (The Australian)

National Australia Bank and AXA Asia Pacific Holdings said today they have extended until March 29 the deadline for finalising transaction documents for the bank's $13.3bn takeover bid for the wealth management and insurance firm. (The Australian)

Macquarie Group has appointed Michael Hawker to the board as an independent non-executive director. Hawker was chief executive and managing director of Insurance Australia Group from 2001 to 2008. ( Sydney Morning Herald )

It will remain expensive to raise new bank debt for at least two more years, Commonwealth Bank's most senior funding executive has warned. The high funding costs will flow through to the cost of new mortgages and business loans. (The Age)

Investor appetite for low quality mortgage loans is returning, with Macquarie's securitisation arm privately arranging a bond containing $500m worth of 'low doc' loans, the first such issuance since the financial crisis. (Sydney Morning Herald)