Timeline of banking in Western Australia

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The first commercial bank in Western Australia was created eight years after the establishment of the Swan River Colony in 1829.

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Entries in italics indicate a locally (Western Australian) domiciled operation.

Early 1830s | Colonial Secretary of Western Australia, Peter Broun, begins a makeshift banking service out of necessity, despite having no training in finance or accounting. It collapses in 1835.

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June 1837 | Bank of Western Australia is established by prominent local businessmen including George Leake as its first chairman
1841 | Bank of Western Australia is sold to the Bank of Australasia
1841 | Western Australia Bank is established
1845 | Original Bank of Western Australia closes
1855 | Government savings bank opens
1863 | Post Office Savings Bank opens
1862 | Perth Building Society opens[1]
1866 | Branch of National Bank of Australasia opens
1878 | Branch of Union Bank of Australia opens
1883 | Branch of Bank of New South Wales opens
1888 | Branch of Commercial Bank of Australia opens
1895 | Government of Western Australia establishes the Agricultural Bank of Western Australia
1927 | Western Australian Bank acquired by Bank of New South Wales
1945 | Agricultural Bank renamed to Rural & Industries Bank
1964 | Town & Country Building Society established[2]
1983 | Western Australian Building Society agrees to merger with the Town & Country Building Society on 27 April 1983
1987 | Perth Building Society merges with Hotham Building Society to form Challenge Bank[3]
1990 | Town & Country Building Society acquired by ANZ Bank[3]
1994 | Rural & Industries Bank renamed Bankwest
1995 | Challenge Bank acquired by Westpac[4]
1995 | Bank of Scotland acquired Bankwest, 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 Securities Exchange on 1 February 1996.
2001 | Halifax merged with Bank of Scotland to form HBOS. HBOS then acquired all the outstanding shares of Bankwest, making it HBOS's wholly owned subsidiary
2008 | Commonwealth Bank acquires Bankwest from HBOS for $2.1bn, fallout from the 2008 financial crisis[5]

## References

1. ↑ "Perth Building Society - Corporate entry - Guide to Australian Business Records". http://www.gabr.net.au/biogs/ABE0548b.htm.
2. ↑ Smart lenders poised to seize opportunity Business News 18 April 2012
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (Town & Country) Act 1995 - Notes". http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/wa/consol_act/aanzbglca1995617/notes.html.
4. ↑ Challenge signs merger deal with Westpac Canberra Times 19 September 1995 page 17
5. ↑ Commonwealth Bank of Australia to acquire Bank West and St Andrew's Commonwealth Bank 8 October 2008

## External links

* WA SNAPSHOTS - Banking
* 1841 - 1927 Western Australian Bank

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