Bankwest

Bank of Western Australia

Type	Subsidiary of Commonwealth Bank of Australia
Industry	Financial services
Founded	1895
Headquarters	Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Key people	Jon Sutton Ian Corfield Jason Clifton Peter Deans Sue Wilson Belinda Harding
Products	Transaction Account Savings Account Home Loans Term Deposits Credit Cards
Revenue	A$552 million before tax (2005)
Website	www.bankwest.com.au

Bank of Western Australia (commonly known as Bankwest) is a full service bank based in Perth, Western Australia. Formerly a wholly owned subsidiary of HBOS plc, it was sold in October 2008 to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia for A$2.1 billion.^[1][2]

This paragraph is outdated. Please update this paragraph to reflect recent events or newly available information. Please see the talk page for more information. (April 2011)

Bankwest has offices in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. On 12 July 2007, Bankwest announced their “Banking Refreshed” initiative. It consists of the roll out of 160 new branches across New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia over the next 3 – 4 years, with the aim to win customers from the "big four" banks. It is anticipated that the initiative will be terminated in October 2008 following the sale of Bankwest to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.^[3]

History

In 1895, the Government of Western Australia established the Agricultural Bank of Western Australia as a rural lender to support the State's farming industries. Despite its name, it was technically not a bank, in that it did not collect deposits from the public, its liabilities being government bonds. It was a government instrumentality that lent exclusively to farmers.

In 1945, the Agricultural Bank became a full trading bank and changed its name to the Rural and Industries Bank of Western Australia (also known as R&I Bank). This enabled it to expand its retail and commercial banking services throughout the state.

The Bank was incorporated in 1990, and then in 1994 changed its name to the Bank of Western Australia Limited, with the trading name Bankwest, in preparation for privatisation. In December 1995, the Bank of Scotland acquired the bank, and as part of the sale agreement, offered 49 per cent of the shares in Bankwest to the public. Bankwest shares listed on the Australian Stock Exchange on 1 February 1996.

In 2001, Halifax Group (a large UK financial institution) merged with Bank of Scotland to form HBOS plc. HBOS then acquired all the outstanding shares of Bankwest, making it HBOS's wholly owned subsidiary.

In 2003, Bankwest announced the acquisition of API Finance from Australian Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (API) for $300m in line with its industry specialisation growth strategy in the business banking segment.^[4]

Late in 2006, Bankwest announced it would be leaving their landmark tower, in favour of a new complex at Raine Square.

In early June 2008, reports began to circulate that HBOS intended to sell Bankwest.^[5]

In September 2008, Lloyds TSB bought HBOS in a deal worth over £12.2 Billion. This was followed in October 2008 when, with significant problems of their own, HBOS/Lloyds TSB agreed to the sale of Bankwest and St Andrews Insurances to Commonwealth Bank of Australia for A$2.1 billion. The acquisition was completed in early 2009.

Products and services

This section requires expansion.

Bankwest offers a full range of banking products, including loans, credit cards transaction and savings accounts.

In 2007 Bankwest launched the Bankwest Regular Saver account for individuals.^[6]

Controversies

In December 2011, a former Bankwest commercial client Geoff Shannon started an action group and website called "Unhapping Banking",^[7] after losing "all of [his] company and personal assets due to the predatory conduct of Bankwest".^[8] The group claims that Bankwest "moved aggressively to reduce its exposure to small- and medium-sized commercial property clients" after being taken over by the Commonwealth Bank in 2008.^[9] After lobbying by Unhappy Banking,^[10] a Senate Inquiry was announced into banking practices on 14 March 2012.^[11]

See also

• BankWest Tower
• Timeline of banking in Western Australia

Sources

• Spillman, Ken. 1989. Horizons: A History of the Rural and Industries Bank of Western Australia. Perth: University of Western Australia Press.

References

External links

• BankWest - Official site