Company profile
A brief overview of Westpac Banking Corporation
- Westpac began trading on 8 April, 1817 as the Bank of New South Wales with a single office in Macquarie Place, Sydney, in the then British colony of New South Wales. In conjunction with the merger with the Commercial Bank of Australia, it changed its name to Westpac Banking Corporation in 1982. Find out more about our proud history
- Westpac merged with Challenge Bank in Western Australia in 1995, Trust Bank in New Zealand in 1996 and Bank of Melbourne in Victoria in 1997.
- Westpac has branches and affiliates throughout Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific region and maintains offices in key financial centres around the world including London, New York, Hong Kong and Singapore.
- As at 31 March 2008 the Westpac Group employed approximately 29,000 people in Australia, New Zealand and around the world.
- As at 31 March 2008, Westpac Banking Corporation had global assets of $402 billion.
- Westpac is ranked in the top 10 listed companies by market capitalisation on the Australian Securities Exchange Limited (ASX).
- For the 6 months to 31 March 2008, the Westpac Group's net profit after income tax was $2,202 million.
- About 360,000 people and institutions in Australia and overseas are shareholders in Westpac.
- Westpac concentrates its activities in Australia, New Zealand and the near Pacific.
Westpac has four key customer facing divisions with common support and corporate functions, through which we serve over seven million customers. These four business areas are:- Retail and Business Banking (RBB) is responsible for sales, marketing and customer service for all consumer, small-to-medium enterprises and commercial customers within Australia. It is also responsible for the management of Westpac's third party retail and business distribution relationships.
- BT Financial Group Australia (BTFG) is Westpac's wealth management business in Australia. It manufactures and distributes financial products, designed to help customers accumulate, manage and protect their wealth. These products include retail investments, personal and business superannuation, life and general insurance and portfolio administration. BT Financial Group also provides financial planning advice and private banking services.
- Westpac Institutional Bank (WIB) serves the financial needs of corporate, institutional and government customers either based in, or with interests in, Australia and New Zealand through dedicated industry teams. WIB provides access to global markets across a broad range of products through its debt markets, foreign exchange and commodities businesses. WIB's equities business provides margin lending, foreign exchange and commodities businesses.
- New Zealand Banking provides a full range of retail banking, wealth management and business banking products servicing 1.4 million New Zealand based customers.
These customer facing businesses are supported by:- Product and Operations comprises all consumer and business product development, management and operations which support the sales, fulfilment and maintenance of Westpac's suite of products.
- Technology is responsible for developing and maintaining reliable and flexible technology capabilities and technology strategies.
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