banking A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Becau ...

Westpac Place Westpac Place is a commercial skyscraper located in the north-western corridor of the Sydney central business district, Australia. The building is the bank's Australian headquarters. The building was built for the Westpac Office Trust, being in ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Bank of New South Wales The Bank of New South Wales (BNSW), also known commonly as The Wales, was the first bank in Australia, being established in Sydney in 1817 and situated on Broadway. During the 19th century, the bank opened branches throughout Australia and N ...

Commercial Bank of Australia The Commercial Bank of Australia Limited (CBA) was an Australian and New Zealand retail bank which operated from 1866 until being amalgamated with the Bank of New South Wales, that was established in 1817, to form the Westpac Banking Corporati ...

Big Four banks The Big Four (or Big 4) is the colloquial name given to the four main banks in several countries where the banking industry is dominated by just four institutions and where the phrase has thus gained relevance. Some countries include more or less i ...

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words

History

Established in Sydney in 1817, the Bank of New South Wales (BNSW) was the first bank in Australia.

Edward Smith Hall Edward Smith Hall (28 March 1786 – 18 September 1860)M. J. B. Kenny,Hall, Edward Smith (1786–1860), ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 1, MUP, 1966. Accessed 27 May 2012 was a political reformer, newspaper editor and banker in ...

was its first cashier and secretary. During the 19th and early 20th century, BNSW opened branches first throughout Australia and Oceania: at

Moreton Bay Moreton Bay is a bay located on the eastern coast of Australia from central Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of Queensland's most important coastal resources. The waters of Moreton Bay are a popular destination for recreational anglers and are ...

(Brisbane) in 1850; in Victoria in 1851; in New Zealand in 1861; in South Australia in 1877; in Western Australia in 1883; in Fiji in 1901; in Papua New Guinea in 1910; and in Tasmania in 1910. *1927: BNSW acquires the Western Australian Bank. *1931: BNSW acquires the Australian Bank of Commerce *1968: BNSW joins the

Databank Systems Limited Databank Systems Limited was the name of a not-for-profit "off balance sheet" company set up by a consortium of competing banks in New Zealand, to operate on what is nowadays termed a "Shared services Shared services is the provision of a servic ...

consortium to provide joint data processing services. *1970: BNSW is

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

on the Australian Securities Exchange on 18 July 1970. *1973: BNSW becomes the corporate sponsor of the Rescue Helicopter service started by Surf Life Saving Australia. The service is known today as the

Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter Service The Westpac Lifesaver Rescue Helicopter Service is a helicopter surf lifesaving service that operates in Australia. Founded in 1973 by Surf Life Saving Australia, a not-for-profit organisation, the service has carried out more than 80,000 fli ...

. *1974: The Bank of New Zealand (20%), BNSW (20%),

Bank of Hawaii The Bank of Hawaii Corporation ( haw, Panakō o Hawaii; abbreviated BOH) is a regional commercial bank headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii. It is Hawaii's second oldest bank and its largest locally owned bank in that the majority of the voting sto ...

(20%), and the Government of Tonga (40%) establish the Bank of Tonga as a joint venture. *1975: BNSW incorporates its local business in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

as Bank of New South Wales (PNG). *1977: BNSW forms the Pacific Commercial Bank in Samoa as a joint venture with Bank of Hawaii, buying into Pacific Savings and Loan Company, in which Bank of Hawaii had had an ownership interest since 1971.

Westpac is formed

*1982: BNSW merged with the Commercial Bank of Australia and changed their name to Westpac Banking Corporation, with the mission to become a significant Western Pacific bank from which Westpac is derived. The brandname incorporated the "W" which had been the logo of the Bank of New South Wales (popularly known as "the Wales"). *1984: The original agreement between BNSW and the government in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands expired and WBC and the government of

Kiribati Kiribati (), officially the Republic of Kiribati ( gil, ibaberikiKiribati),Kiribati
''The Wor ...

formed the Bank of Kiribati as a 51–49% joint venture. Bank of Kiribati also fulfilled the functions of a reserve or central bank. *1985: WBC replaced Barclays in the

National Bank of Tuvalu The National Bank of Tuvalu (NBT) is the sole provider in Tuvalu of banking services involving taking deposits, making loans and engaging in foreign exchange transactions. In 2020, its assets were AUD$128 million, or 160% of the GDP of Tuvalu. T ...

(est. 1981) in

Tuvalu Tuvalu ( or ; formerly known as the Ellice Islands) is an island country and microstate in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. Its islands are situated about midway between Hawaii and Australia. They lie east-nor ...

(ex-Ellice Islands), taking 40% of the shares as well as a 10-year management contract. *1988: the firm acquired the European Pacific Banking Corporation in the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

and a HSBC subsidiary, the Solomon Islands Banking Corporation, which HSBC had established as a branch in 1973. WBC also acquired HSBC's operations in Fiji and the

New Hebrides New Hebrides, officially the New Hebrides Condominium (french: link=no, Condominium des Nouvelles-Hébrides, "Condominium of the New Hebrides") and named after the Hebrides Scottish archipelago, was the colonial name for the island group ...

, and established a branch in

Niue Niue (, ; niu, Niuē) is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Zealand. Niue's land area is about and its population, predominantly Polynesian, was about 1,600 in 2016. Niue is located in a triangle between Tong ...

that is the only bank in that country. (HSBC had established its branch in Fiji only some 18 months earlier). *1990: Bank of New Zealand sold half its shares in Bank of Tonga to WBC and half to

Bank of Hawaii The Bank of Hawaii Corporation ( haw, Panakō o Hawaii; abbreviated BOH) is a regional commercial bank headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii. It is Hawaii's second oldest bank and its largest locally owned bank in that the majority of the voting sto ...

, giving each of them 30%. WBC bought

Banque Indosuez Banque Indosuez was a French bank, the product of the 1975 merger of Banque de l'Indochine and Banque de Suez et de l'Union des mines. It was purchased by Crédit Agricole in 1996, and formed the core of what is now Crédit Agricole Corporate an ...

's operations in New Caledonia and Tahiti. (

Banque de l'Indochine The Banque de l'Indochine (), originally Banque de l'Indo-Chine ("Bank of Indochina"), was a bank created in 1875 in Paris to finance French colonial development in Asia. As a bank of issue in Indochina until 1952 (and in French Paci ...

, which later merged into

Banque Indosuez Banque Indosuez was a French bank, the product of the 1975 merger of Banque de l'Indochine and Banque de Suez et de l'Union des mines. It was purchased by Crédit Agricole in 1996, and formed the core of what is now Crédit Agricole Corporate an ...

, had established itself in New Caledonia in 1888 and in Papeete,

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...

in 1905. In both places l'Indochine functioned as the bank of issue until 1966–7.) *1992: WBC recorded a 1.6 billion dollar loss, which at the time, was the largest loss for an Australian corporation. In the process the firm came close to insolvency, and slipped from being Australia's largest to third largest bank. *1995: WBC sold its shares in

National Bank of Tuvalu The National Bank of Tuvalu (NBT) is the sole provider in Tuvalu of banking services involving taking deposits, making loans and engaging in foreign exchange transactions. In 2020, its assets were AUD$128 million, or 160% of the GDP of Tuvalu. T ...

to that country's government, which now wholly owns the bank. *1995: WBC acquired

Challenge Bank Challenge Bank was an Australian bank. It was established in April 1987 when the Hotham Permanent Building Society of Victoria and Perth Building Society of Western Australia merged. In December 1995 it was purchased by Westpac. In May 1996, the ...

. *1996: WBC Holdings NZ bought Trust Bank, a chain of regional banks owned by Community Trusts, for

NZD The New Zealand dollar ( mi, tāra o Aotearoa; sign: $, NZ$; code: NZD) is the official currency and legal tender of New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, the Ross Dependency, Tokelau, and a British territory, the Pitcairn Islands. Within New ...

1.2 billion to form NZ largest bank, WestpacTrust. The bank had promised to keep the funding to Community Trusts flowing and to keep "Trust" in its name. However, Community Trust funding slowed to a trickle, and in 2002 the bank launched a rebranding which included dropping the "Trust" from its name. The merger of WBC and Trustbank also saw the closure of many branches around New Zealand. In towns and cities where both WBC and Trustbank existed, the bank merged redundant branches into a single branch; also it closed many branches in rural areas and outer suburbs. *1996: WBC sold Challenge Bank's Victorian assets to the Bank of Melbourne. *1997: it acquired Bank of Melbourne in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, paying an estimated price in excess of A$1.4 billion. WBC retained the rights to the Bank of Melbourne name and logos, but in 2004 rebadged the branches as Westpac. In 2011, Westpac relaunched the brand. *1998: it sold its operations in New Caledonia and

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...

to

Société Générale Société Générale S.A. (), colloquially known in English as SocGen (), is a French-based multinational financial services company founded in 1864, registered in downtown Paris and headquartered nearby in La Défense. Société Générale ...

, which merged them with Société Générale Calédonienne de Banque (est. 1971) and Banque de Polynésie (est. 1973), respectively. *2001: The government of Kiribati sought to reduce Westpac's share in Bank of Kiribati from 51 to 49%, leading WBC to sell its shares back to the government. Bank of Hawaii sold its interest in Pacific Commercial Bank (42.7%) to Westpac, which held an equal portion. WBC offered Samoan investors, who held the remaining shares, the same price it had paid Bank of Hawaii. WBC now owns 93.5% of Westpac Bank Samoa and Samoan companies and individuals own 6.5%. In Tonga, Bank of Hawaii sold its shares in Bank of Tonga to Westpac, giving WBC 60% ownership of what is now Westpac Bank of Tonga. *2002: WBC acquired BT and Rothschild Australia Asset Management. *2004: The

Reserve Bank of New Zealand The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ, mi, Te Pūtea Matua) is the central bank of New Zealand. It was established in 1934 and is constituted under the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act 1989. The governor of the Reserve Bank is responsible for N ...

required WBC to incorporate its NZ branches network. WBC sold its branch in

Niue Niue (, ; niu, Niuē) is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Zealand. Niue's land area is about and its population, predominantly Polynesian, was about 1,600 in 2016. Niue is located in a triangle between Tong ...

to

Bank of South Pacific Bank South Pacific (or BSP) is the largest bank in Papua New Guinea, with 35 branches throughout the country and in 6 countries. BSP currently services over 650,000 business banking customers throughout the Pacific. As at 31 December 2014, BSP had ...

. *2008: Former

St George Bank St.George Bank is an Australian bank with its headquarters in Sydney. Since a 2008 merger, the bank has been part of Westpac, having previously been an independent legal entity. In 2010, St.George was deregistered as a company and ceased to be ...

CEO

Gail Kelly Gail Kelly (née Currer) (born 25 April 1956) is a South African-born Australian businesswoman. In 2002, she became the first female CEO of a major Australian bank or top 15 company and in 2005 was the highest paid woman in an Australian corpora ...

appointed chief executive officer and managing director. *2008: WBC announced that it intended to merge with the 5th largest Australian bank,

St George Bank St.George Bank is an Australian bank with its headquarters in Sydney. Since a 2008 merger, the bank has been part of Westpac, having previously been an independent legal entity. In 2010, St.George was deregistered as a company and ceased to be ...

, for A$19 billion. The holders of about 95% of St George's shares voted in favor of the merger. *2008: On 17 November, the Federal Court of Australia approved the merger of Westpac and St George. *2011: During July, St George branches in the state of Victoria were rebadged as Bank of Melbourne branches. *In early February 2012, Westpac announced plans to axe more than 400 domestic jobs and another 150 offshore jobs. This action was a response to much slower growth over the past several years and the desire to rationalize following Westpac's 2008 merger with St. George Bank. *In 2014,

Brian Hartzer Brian Hartzer (born 1967) is an Australian business executive who is the Chairman of BeforePay. Previously he was the managing director and CEO of Westpac from 2014 to 2020. Education Brian Hartzer graduated from Princeton University. Ba ...

was named CEO of Westpac. *2017: WBC celebrated its 200th anniversary. *2020: In April, Peter King was appointed CEO of Westpac, replacing Brian Hartzer.

Core business activities

The structure involves five key divisions including: Consumer Bank, Commercial and Business Bank, BT Financial Group, Westpac Institutional Bank and Westpac New Zealand. These five divisions serve more than 13 million customers.

Consumer Bank

Consumer Bank is responsible for sales and service of its 9 million consumer customers in Australia, assisting them with their everyday banking needs. The division covers all consumer banking products and services under the Westpac, St George, BankSA, Bank of Melbourne and RAMS brands. Activities are conducted through the Consumer Bank's nationwide network of 1,429 branches, third-party distributors, call centres, 3,850 ATMs, EFTPOS terminals and internet banking services.

Business Bank

The Business Bank is responsible for sales and service of its small-to-medium enterprise, commercial and agribusiness customers in Australia, as well as asset and equipment finance and operates under the Westpac,

St George Bank St.George Bank is an Australian bank with its headquarters in Sydney. Since a 2008 merger, the bank has been part of Westpac, having previously been an independent legal entity. In 2010, St.George was deregistered as a company and ceased to be ...

,

BankSA BankSA, formerly known as the Bank of South Australia, the State Bank of South Australia and the Savings Bank of South Australia is the largest bank in South Australia. It is a subsidiary of Westpac. History Bank SA, formerly known as The ...

and Bank of Melbourne brands. Business and corporate customers (businesses with facilities typically up to $150 million) are provided with a wide range of banking and financial products and services, including specialist advice for cash flow finance, trade finance, automotive and equipment finance, property finance, transaction banking and treasury services. Sales and service activities for business and corporate customers are conducted by relationship managers via business banking centres, internet and customer service centre channels.

BT

BT is the wealth management brand of the Westpac Group. Funds Management operations include the manufacture and distribution of investment, superannuation products and investment platforms including Panorama, BT Wrap and Asgard. Insurance solutions cover the manufacturing and distribution of life, general and lenders mortgage insurance.

Westpac Institutional Bank

Westpac Institutional Bank (WIB) delivers a broad range of financial services to commercial, corporate, institutional and government customers. WIB operates through dedicated industry relationship and specialist product teams, with expert knowledge in transactional banking, financial and debt capital markets, specialized capital, margin lending, broking and alternative investment solutions. Customers are supported through operations in Australia, New Zealand, the US, the UK, and Asian centers.

Westpac New Zealand

Westpac Building At Eastern End Britomart

In 1861 the Bank of New South Wales opened seven branches in New Zealand. Currently, Westpac NZ offers a full-service with around 1.5 million customers, 3,000 shareholders and 197 branches nationwide. It is the dominant provider of banking services to small to medium business, corporate and institutional organizations, and is the banker of the New Zealand government. As of June 2022, it is the third largest bank in New Zealand, with a market share of 19%. On 29 September 2006 the

New Zealand Commerce Commission The Commerce Commission ( mi, Te Komihana Tauhokohoko) is a New Zealand government agency with responsibility for enforcing legislation that relates to competition in the country's markets, fair trading and consumer credit contracts, and regul ...

fined Westpac

NZ$ The New Zealand dollar ( mi, tāra o Aotearoa; sign: $, NZ$; code: NZD) is the official currency and legal tender of New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, the Ross Dependency, Tokelau, and a British territory, the Pitcairn Islands. Within New ...

5.1 million for hidden foreign transaction fees, with most of the fine being reimbursement to affected customers, in the order of 12% of the fees actually charged. All other banks operating in New Zealand had either already been fined or were awaiting a court case. In October 2009, Westpac NZ was required to pay NZ$961 million to the

Inland Revenue Department (New Zealand) Inland Revenue or Inland Revenue Department (IRD; mi, Te Tari Taake) is the public service department of New Zealand charged with advising the government on tax policy, collecting and disbursing payments for social support programmes, and coll ...

in avoided taxes. On 22 July 2014, the firm announced that it would pilot a

host card emulation Host card emulation (HCE) is the software architecture that provides exact virtual representation of various electronic identity (access, transit and banking) cards using only software. Prior to the HCE architecture, near field communication (NFC) ...

(HCE) mobile payments technology to customers. It was the first bank in New Zealand to actively bring HCE mobile payments to market and one of only a handful of banks globally to be using the innovative 'digital wallet' technology. The three-month trial, using

Carta Worldwide Carta Worldwide is a Canadian financial technology company that offers digital payments technology and modern card issuer processing for banks and financial technology "fintech" companies. In addition to their Canadian headquarters in Toronto, Ca ...

HCE technology, enabled customers to securely store and access credit and debit card information in a remote and hosted 'cloud' environment, enabling customers to use their Android smartphones as digital wallets. Soon after, in August 2014, Westpac NZ announced that it would be releasing the world's first augmented bank app, which adds layers of functionality to the digital wallet by enabling users to check account balances, view previous spending behaviors, pay bills and locate their nearest Westpac NZ branch or ATM. The app is also viewable in a 3D format by supported devices.

Naming rights

*

Westpac Stadium Wellington Regional Stadium (known commercially as Sky Stadium through naming rights) is a major sporting venue in Wellington, New Zealand. The stadium's bowl site size is . The stadium was built in 1999 by Fletcher Construction and is situ ...

in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

from 2000 to 2019 * Westpac Halberg Award

ATM Alliance

Westpac is a member of the

Global ATM Alliance The Global ATM Alliance is a joint venture of several major international banks that allows customers of their banks to use their automated teller machine (ATM) card or debit card at another bank within the alliance with no international ATM access ...

, a joint venture of several major international banks that allows customers of the banks to use their ATM card or check card at another bank within the Global ATM Alliance with no fees when traveling internationally. Other participating banks are

Allied Irish Banks Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c. is one of the so-called Big Four commercial banks in Ireland. AIB offers a full range of personal, business and corporate banking services. The bank also offers a range of general insurance products such as home, trav ...

(Ireland), Barclays (in the UK, Spain and parts of Africa),

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank ...

(US), BNP Paribas (France), Ukrsibbank (Ukraine),

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Sto ...

(in Germany, Spain, Italy, Poland), and Scotiabank (in Canada, Chile, Mexico among many other countries).

Westpac Migrant Banking

This unit of both the Australian and New Zealand Bank offers banking facilities to those migrating to either New Zealand or Australia. Bank accounts for migrants can be opened before people arrive in the country, and

credit card A credit card is a payment card issued to users (cardholders) to enable the cardholder to pay a merchant for goods and services based on the cardholder's accrued debt (i.e., promise to the card issuer to pay them for the amounts plus the o ...

s and mortgages can be approved before arrival. Westpac Migrant Banking has a representative office in London where accounts can be arranged, although the process can be done remotely from any country. Westpac planned to open a retail branch in London in 2011.

Westpac Pacific

Westpac operates in seven south Pacific nations; the unit is headquartered in Sydney. The financial services offered include electronic banking (via online banking, ATMs and EFTPOS), deposit, loan, transaction accounts and international trade facilities to personal and business customers. Westpac Fiji is Westpac's Fijian operation. It is one of the largest banks in the country and has a 40% market share.

Westpac Outstanding Women Awards

Westpac recognizes numerous professional women each year who are doing exceptional work in several sectors of the Papua New Guinea economy with the

Westpac Outstanding Women Award The Westpac Outstanding Women Award (shortened to WOW Award) recognizes exceptional professional work of women in Papua New Guinea. Since its inception in 2006, when it was called the Westpac Women in Business Award, the Award has recognized the a ...

s.

Banking Alliance for Women

Westpac Pacific Banking is a member of the Global Banking Alliance for Women, supporting initiatives in the Pacific to help women prosper and grow.

Reinventure

Westpac has committed $150m to the venture capital group Reinventure with the objective to increase the impact of technology in financial markets. The Westpac-backed firm has invested in start-ups like BrickX, OpenAgent and CodeLingo. Reinventure is mandated to invest independently of Westpac, unlike venture capital strategies led by other Australian banks.

Controversies

Manipulation of benchmark interest rates

In April 2016, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission began legal proceedings against Westpac for manipulation of Australian benchmark interest rates, alleging that it had traded in a manner intended to create an artificial price for bank bills. It further alleged that Westpac was seeking to maximize profit or minimize its losses to the detriment of those holding opposite positions to Westpac. In November 2018, Westpac was fined the maximum penalty of AUD$3.3m and ordered to pay legal costs.

US Federal Reserve borrowings

In 2009, a Westpac-owned entity secured US$1.09 billion from the US

Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States of America. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a ...

. Commentary suggests this was an unusual move for the bank, given its relatively minor position in North America. The borrowings by Westpac occurred at the height of the global financial crisis and were part of the Federal Reserve's move to stabilize financial markets globally. The public and government attention of the borrowings followed the release of the information by the Federal Reserve in 2010, not Westpac.

Funding of coal mining in New Zealand

Westpac came under criticism from

350.org 350.org is an international environmental organization addressing the climate crisis. Its stated goal is to end the use of fossil fuels and transition to renewable energy by building a global, grassroots movement. The 350 in the name stands fo ...

for its role in funding mining company

Bathurst Resources Bathurst Resources, along with a number of subsidiaries, is a coal mining company in New Zealand that was established in 2010. Company history The company was originally based in Perth, Western Australia, and incorporated on 30 May 2007, listing ...

, which was permitted to mine coal on the Denniston Plateau, claiming that the mine would release up to 218 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.

Money laundering and child exploitation scandal

In November 2019, it was revealed that Westpac was alleged to have violated anti-money laundering, child exploitation and counter-terror finance laws. Westpac's CEO,

Brian Hartzer Brian Hartzer (born 1967) is an Australian business executive who is the Chairman of BeforePay. Previously he was the managing director and CEO of Westpac from 2014 to 2020. Education Brian Hartzer graduated from Princeton University. Ba ...

, resigned in the wake of the scandal. According to Australian regulators, Westpac had 23 million anti-money laundering law violations, which is Australia's biggest ever anti-money laundering scandal to date. On 24 September 2020, Westpac and AUSTRAC agreed to a AUD$1.3 billion penalty over Westpac's breaches of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006. This is the largest fine ever issued in Australian corporate history.

Unsolicited sales campaign

In August 2021, Westpac was fined $10.5m for breaches to best interests duty after it provided personal financial product advice in calls to 14 customers in a sales campaign. The sales campaign aimed at rolling customers from their existing superannuation into Westpac superannuation products.

String of misconduct cases

In April 2021, the

Australian Securities & Investments Commission The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is an independent commission of the Australian Government tasked as the national corporate regulator. ASIC's role is to regulate company and financial services and enforce laws to pro ...

launched six civil penalty proceedings against Westpac for alleged misconduct and widespread compliance failures. The six cases that were all settled by April 2022 are: * Charged $10.9m in advice fees to 11,800 deceased customers for services that were not provided, fined $40m. * Distributed duplicate insurance policies to 7,000 customers for the same property and issuing insurance policies to 329 customers who had not consented, fined $15m. * Charged $10.6m in ongoing financial advice fees to at least 25,000 customers without disclosing these fees, fined $6m. * Charged fees to 21,000 deregistered company accounts, holding $120m in funds instead of remitting to ASIC or the Commonwealth, fined $20m. * Sold consumer credit card and flexi-loan debt to debt purchasers with incorrect interest rates, resulting in 16,000 customers being overcharged interest, fined $12m. * Charged 9,900 members insurance premiums that included commission payments which are banned, fined $20m. Westpac was fined $113m total for the string of misconduct cases.

Corporate responsibility

In 2002 Westpac released a social impact report that outlined the bank's plan to meet international standards in the area of corporate social responsibility. This led to Westpac's assessment as the global sustainability leader for the banking sector in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index from 2004 to 2007. Westpac has been criticized for backing logging operations on the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...

that destroy virgin rainforests. Because of this, the Australian Greens have called for the Banksia Awards to be withdrawn from Westpac.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Banks of Australia Companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange Banks established in 1817 Financial services companies based in Sydney Australian companies established in 1817

Westpac is formed

Core business activities

Consumer Bank

Business Bank

BT

Westpac Institutional Bank

Westpac New Zealand

Naming rights

ATM Alliance

Westpac Migrant Banking

Westpac Pacific

Westpac Outstanding Women Awards

Banking Alliance for Women

Reinventure

Controversies

Manipulation of benchmark interest rates

US Federal Reserve borrowings

Funding of coal mining in New Zealand

Money laundering and child exploitation scandal

Unsolicited sales campaign

String of misconduct cases

Corporate responsibility

See also

References

Further reading

External links