Corporate & institutional

Commodity markets experienced mixed trends in March amid the Gulf of Arabia conflict, with crude oil volatile but ending the month where it started, LNG rising sharply, and metals showing varied performance. The report anticipates significant impacts on prices and supply through 2026 and beyond due to ongoing geopolitical tensions.

Friday edition: analysis and forecasts for this week's key releases.

Key insights from the week that was.

From 1 October 2026, merchants will no longer be allowed to charge their customers a surcharge when they pay with a card. It’s part of a suite of retail payments reforms being introduced by the Reserve Bank of Australia.The changes present an opportunity for businesses to review what their own payment service provider is charging them to accept payments and ensure that they receive the full benefit of all the reforms, says Joel Lenhardt, Managing Director of Merchant Payments at Westpac.

The latest edition of Sustainability Impact explores early findings from Group 1 AASB S2 reporters, recommendations from the Australian Government’s Carbon Leakage Review, the new clean energy partnership between Australia and Canada, a potential breakthrough for green hydrogen, and a project that brings together renewable energy uplift, housing affordability and regional prosperity, plus more.

Australia’s payments rails are among the best in the world, but global money is changing fast. As stablecoins, deposit tokens and tokenised assets move from experimentation to real use in cross-border payments and markets, the question is less whether change is coming, and more whether Australia will proactively shape it or inherit it.