SYDNEY, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Google agreed on Monday to pay a A$55 million ($35.8 million) fine in Australia after the consumer watchdog found it had hurt competition by paying the country's two largest telcos to pre-install its search application on Android phones, excluding rival search engines. The fine extends a bumpy period for the Alphabet-owned internet giant in Australia,...

(Reuters) -Australia's corporate regulator said on Thursday it had taken pension fund Mercer Super to court, alleging it failed to disclose investigations into major member service failures, including wrong insurance refunds to deceased members. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission said Mercer lacked adequate systems to comply with the reportable situations regime, which requires financial services licensees to promptly disclose...

(Reuters) -Australian insurer Suncorp reported better-than-expected full-year cash earnings on Thursday, driven by improved insurance margins and higher investment returns, and announced a share buyback plan of up to A$400 million ($261.72 million). Suncorp, now a pure-play general insurer since exiting its banking and life insurance divisions, benefited from favourable natural hazard costs, improved margins on higher policy prices and...

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) hit a new all-time high of $124,000 overnight on Wednesday, fueled by the inclusion of cryptocurrency investments in 401(k) retirement plans and macroeconomic optimism. The Ascent Continues The apex cryptocurrency outperformed its previous best of $123,091, with trading volume jumping 26% to $93.06 billion in the last 24 hours. Bitcoin is up over 32% so far this...