ANZ Bank New Zealand Limited, New Zealand's largest financial-services group, operates as a subsidiary of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited of Australia. Until 2012, ANZ operated in New Zealand under the legal entity ANZ National Bank Limited, which was formed as part of the 2012 merger of ANZ Banking Group Limited and the National Bank of New Zealand Limited. From 2012, the company was renamed ANZ Bank New Zealand as part of the merger of ANZ and the National Bank brands. ANZ New Zealand operates under a variety of different brands, such as ANZ, UDC Finance, Bonus Bonds and Direct Broking. It provides a number of financial services, including banking services, asset finance, investments and payment "solutions". In September 2010, ANZ New Zealand became the sole owner of ING New Zealand Limited, which formed part of ING; ING provided investment advice for the investment and insurance products sold by ANZ and The National Bank. ING New Zealand Limited changed its name to OnePath Limited in November 2010. On 26 September 2012, ANZ National Bank CEO David Hisco announced that the National Bank would re-brand as "ANZ" by the end of October. The name of the company would change to "ANZ Bank New Zealand Limited". The technology of the two banks was brought together from 29 October 2012, with customers being able to use branches branded ANZ or the National Bank from the same date. Branches branded the National Bank would change to the ANZ branding before the bank's trademark license expired in 2014. In May 2019, the Reserve Bank stripped ANZ of its accreditation to set and managed its capital reserves over persistent failures since 2014.
Subsidiaries
Shareholdings
Interchange & Settlement Limited, the operator of the retail payment processing system used to conduct interbank transactions – 13%
1840: Union Bank of Australia, a British bank with head office in London, agreed with the New Zealand Company to accompany settlers to New Zealand to provide them with banking services. UBA opened a branch in Petone, across the harbor from Wellington, where it transferred the branch shortly thereafter. Between 1840 and 1847 the Union Bank issued its own bank notes for circulation in New Zealand. These were initially issued under British law until 1844 when the New Zealand Governor signed an ordinance allowing the Bank to issue bank notes but required that these be a minimum of 1 pound and redeemable at demand for gold or silver.
1848: The Governor withdrew Union Bank's right to issue bank notes and transferred these rights to the Colonial Bank of Issue. UBA notes in circulation were withdrawn and replaced with CBI bank notes. UBA objected, and every day it took whatever CBI notes it had received that day to the CBI and demanded redemption in gold; when UBA's customers wanted to withdraw money, the bank paid them in gold rather than CBI notes. This policy, when combined with previous confusion related to the issue of NZ Government debt, and support from the local commercial community, resulted in the CBI ultimately being shut down.
1848: UBA opened a branch in Auckland, and a small number of branches elsewhere in the country followed.
1856: UBC resumed issuing bank notes in New Zealand under an act of the New Zealand Parliament.
1979: An Act of Parliament permitted ANZ to incorporate its branches in New Zealand as ANZ Banking Group Ltd. ANZ sold 25% of the shares to the public.
1983: ANZ opened its New Zealand head office in Wellington.
1989: ANZ bought PostBank from the New Zealand government in a privatization. Two years earlier the Government had separated the Post Office's banking business into a separate entity to prepare it for sale.
2015: ANZ announces ANZ ETFS joint venture with ETF Securities to offer 6 ETFs on ASX
2017: ANZ announces it will sell its online sharebroking service, Direct Broking, to investment bank, First NZ Capital, for an undisclosed sum. The sale was completed in December 2018.
2019: Antonia Watson replaces David Hisco as acting CEO of ANZ NZ
Criticism
ANZ has often been a finalist for the Roger Awards, which recognise "The Worst Transnational Corporation operating in New Zealand" and are run by CAFCA and GATT Watchdog.
