The State Bank of Victoria was an Australian bank that existed from 1842 until 1990 when it was taken over by the

Commonwealth Bank The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), or CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of financial services including retail, busines ...

. It was owned by the State of Victoria.

History

A government-controlled savings bank had been founded on 1 January 1842 as the Savings Bank of Port Philip. Other independent savings banks merged over time and this development was recognised by legislation in 1912, which reconstituted the bank as the State Savings Bank of Victoria. In 1980 its name was changed to the State Bank of Victoria, the name it had until its sale to the

in 1990 and subsequent dissolution. The State Bank collapsed due to the weight of the grossly irresponsible lending made in the 1980s, in particular by its

merchant bank A merchant bank is historically a bank dealing in commercial loans and investment. In modern British usage it is the same as an investment bank. Merchant banks were the first modern banks and evolved from medieval merchants who traded in commodi ...

subsidiary

Tricontinental ''Tricontinental'' is a leftist quarterly magazine founded after the Tricontinental Conference 1966. The magazine is the official publication of the Organization of Solidarity with the People of Asia, Africa and Latin America (OSPAAAL) which also p ...

, after the Reserve Bank of Australia decision to increase interest rates in 1989 brought about the deep recession that put pressure on those financial institutions that were heavily exposed to the property market. Another contributor to the State Bank’s decline was its acquisition of the already troubled

Australian Bank Australian Bank (ABL) was an Australian retail bank that operated between 1981 and 1989. It was established by Perth businessman Garrick Agnew (its first chairman) and Sydney-based Mark Johnson (its first CEO). Johnson was also a co-founder of ...

in January 1989. Tricontinental eventually collapsed with losses of A$1.5 billion, which threatened the existence of the State Bank and led to its sale to the Commonwealth Bank.Hugo Armstrong (1992), 'The Tricontinental Affair,' in

Mark Considine Mark Considine (born 1953) is an Australian political scientist, who specialises in public sector reform, and reforms of social services. Since 2018, he has been Provost of the University of Melbourne. He is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social ...

and Brian Costar (eds.), ''Trials in Power. Cain, Kirner and Victoria 1982-1992'', Melbourne University Press, Carlton, Ch.3 The overall sale price was A$2.0 billion. The collapse of the State Bank was a key factor in the defeat of the State Labor government led by Joan Kirner and the election of the Liberal Party led by

Jeff Kennett Jeffrey Gibb Kennett (born 2 March 1948) is a former Australian politician who was the 43rd Premier of Victoria between 1992 and 1999, and currently a media commentator. He was previously the president of the Hawthorn Football Club, serving ...

, at the

1992 Victorian state election The 1992 Victorian state election, held on Saturday, 3 October 1992, was for the 52nd Parliament of Victoria. It was held in the Australian state of Victoria to elect all 88 members of the state's Legislative Assembly and 22 members of the 44-me ...

References

External links

State Bank (Succession of Commonwealth Bank) Act 1990Public Record Office of VictoriaState Bank of Victoria House Plans and DesignsState Bank Victoria
Banks established in 1842 Banks disestablished in 1990 Defunct banks of Australia Economic history of Victoria (Australia) 1842 establishments in Australia State Bank of Victoria collapse Australian companies established in 1842 Australian companies disestablished in 1990 Defunct government-owned companies of Victoria {{VictoriaAU-gov-stub

History

See also

References

External links