State Bank of New South Wales


The State Bank of New South Wales,, was a bank that was owned by the Government of New South Wales. It existed from 1933 until 1994, when it was taken over by the Colonial State Bank and then the Commonwealth Bank in 2000.

History of Operations

Founding

Its predecessor was the Government Savings Bank of New South Wales, which failed and later merged with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in 1931. The bank started in 1933 as the Rural Bank of NSW, which was a bank that primarily lent to and dealt with farmers. In 1982 the bank's name was changed to the State Bank of NSW and so was its mandate, to that of a standard commercial bank, although it had been operating in this way for some years. It did, however, keep its famous slogan 'We do more for you personally'.
The Bank was 'corporatised' in 1990, under the State Owned Corporations Act 1989 and the State Bank Act 1989. On 14 May 1990 the existing State Bank was dissolved, and all of its assets and business undertaking were vested in an incorporated State Bank, limited by shares.

Acquisitions

In 1994 the bank was sold to Colonial, a financial services company. The bank changed its name to Colonial State Bank in 1996. In 2000 it too was taken over, this time by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

Similar named corporation

This bank should not be confused with the Bank of New South Wales, which was founded as Australia's first bank, operating from 1817 and the precursor of what became the Westpac Banking Corporation in 1982.

Chairmen