CBA team met Citi instead
The supposed Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) delegation for the 2010 CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets investor forum in Hong Kong still flew to the area.
Bank spokeperson said deputy chief financial officer Michael Venter and his team “is responsible for financial operations in Hong Kong and met some investors yesterday.” The CBA team allegedly met with investors at investment bank rival Citi instead of participating at the CLSA forum.
The CLSA forum in Hong Kong has gathered 1380 investors from 30 countries and 500 chief executives and chief financial officers representing 200 companies. The event running from 13 to 17 September is the fifth of a series for 2010.
The CBA delegation was reported to have pulled out of the forum last Friday after the CLSA accused the bank of trying to create a mild picture of the housing bubble.
CLSA analyst Brian Johnson's report was a point-by-point rebuttal of a 17-page CBA presentation to the Australian Securities Exchange. In a July report, Johnson criticized the ability of highly subsidized and highly geared first-home buyers to service their loans when interest rates are rising.
“Hmm. CBA's analysis of the underlying valuations on home loans made (in the) Storm Financial collapse appears a tad superficial in retrospect,” Johnson said in last week's analysis.