Westpac
Westpac Banking Corporation, known simply as Westpac, is an Australian bank and financial services provider headquartered in Sydney, Australia. Established in 1817 as the Bank of New South Wales, it acquired the Commercial Bank of Australia in 1982 before being renamed shortly afterwards. It is one of Australia's "big four" banks and is Australia's first and oldest banking institution. Its name is a portmanteau of "Western" and "Pacific". As of March 2018, Westpac has 14 million customers, and employs almost 40,000 people. History. Established in Sydney in 1817, the Bank of New South Wales (BNSW) was the  first bank in Australia. Edward Smith Hall was its first cashier and secretary. During the 19th and early 20th century, BNSW opened branches first throughout Australia and Oceania: at Moreton Bay (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. 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, BankSA 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. 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. It currently is the second largest bank in New Zealand, after the merger of ANZ and National Bank of New Zealand. On 29 September 2006 the New Zealand Commerce Commission fined Westpac NZ$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) in avoided taxes. On 22 July 2014, the firm announced that it would pilot a host card emulation (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 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. ATM Alliance. Westpac is a member of the Global ATM Alliance, 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 (Ireland), Barclays (in the UK, Spain and parts of Africa), Bank of America (US), BNP Paribas (France), Ukrsibbank (Ukraine), Deutsche Bank (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 cards 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 Giunea economy with the Westpac Outstanding Women Awards. 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. Controversy. 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 maximise profit or minimise its losses to the detriment of those holding opposite positions to Westpac. On 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. 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 was part of a Federal Reserve's move to stabilise 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 for its role in funding mining company Bathurst Resources, 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, 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. In 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. On 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 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: 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 that destroy virgin rainforests. Because of this, the Australian Greens have called for the Banksia Awards to be withdrawn from Westpac.