{"id":"australia-and-new-zealand-banking-group-act-1970","name":"Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Act 1970","slug":"australia-and-new-zealand-banking-group-act-1970","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"wa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":30018,"registerId":"wa-australia-and-new-zealand-banking-group-act-1970-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-01","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Act 1970","content":"![Crest]()Western Australia\n\nAustralia and New Zealand Banking Group Act 1970\n\nWestern Australia\n\nAustralia and New Zealand Banking Group Act 1970\n\nContents\n\nPart I — Preliminary\n\n1. Short title and commencement 4\n\n3. Act binds the Crown 4\n\n4. Interpretation 4\n\nPart II — Vesting of undertakings of Australia and New Zealand Bank Limited and The English, Scottish and Australian Bank, Limited in Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited\n\n5. Vesting of undertakings of existing banks in the Bank 7\n\n6. Transfer of contracts, etc., with existing banks 7\n\n7. Transfer of banking businesses of existing banks to the Bank 7\n\n8. Actions, etc., by or against existing banks not to abate 9\n\n9. Actions, etc., relating to excluded assets of existing banks 10\n\n10. Application of *Evidence Act 1906* 10\n\n11. References in enactments and documents to existing banks 11\n\n12. Continuation of employees’ rights 11\n\nPart III — Vesting of undertaking of E.S. & A. Savings Bank Limited in Australia and New Zealand Savings Bank Limited\n\n13. Vesting of undertaking of E.S.A. Savings Bank in A.N.Z. Savings Bank 13\n\n14. Transfer of contracts, etc., with E.S.A. Savings Bank 13\n\n15. Transfer of Savings Bank business of E.S.A. Savings Bank to A.N.Z. Savings Bank 13\n\n16. Actions, etc., by or against E.S.A. Savings Bank not to abate 15\n\n17. Actions, etc., relating to excluded assets of E.S.A. Savings Bank 16\n\n18. Application of *Evidence Act 1906* 17\n\n19. References in enactments and documents to E.S.A. Savings Bank 17\n\nPart IV — General\n\n20. Entry of the Bank on land not to constitute assignment, etc. 18\n\n21. Service of documents 18\n\n22. Protection of persons in respect of dealings with excluded assets 19\n\n23. Registration authority to give effect 20\n\n24. Saving of Acts relating to Banks 20\n\n25. Duty and fees payable 20\n\nNotes\n\nCompilation table 21\n\nUncommenced provisions table 21\n\nOther notes 21\n\nDefined terms\n\n  \n\nWestern Australia\n\nAustralia and New Zealand Banking Group Act 1970\n\nAn Act to supplement the *Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Act 1970* of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which provides, among other things, for the transfer to Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited of the undertakings of Australia and New Zealand Bank Limited and The English, Scottish and Australian Bank, Limited; to supplement the *Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Act 1970* of the Parliament of Victoria in so far as it relates to the transfer to Australia and New Zealand Savings Bank Limited of the undertaking of E.S. & A. Savings Bank Limited; and for purposes connected therewith.\n\nPreamble\n\nWHEREAS:\n\n(a) by the *Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Act 1970* of the Parliament of the United Kingdom provision is made for the transfer to Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (in this preamble referred to as the Bank) of the undertakings of Australia and New Zealand Bank Limited (in this preamble referred to as A.N.Z.) and The English, Scottish and Australian Bank, Limited (in this preamble referred to as E.S.A.) and for other purposes incidental thereto and consequential thereon, for the incorporation of Australia and New Zealand Savings Bank Limited in the State of Victoria, for the cesser of application to that company of provisions of the Companies Acts 1948 to 1967 of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (in this preamble referred to as the U.K. Companies Acts) consequent upon that incorporation, and for other purposes incidental thereto;\n\n(b) A.N.Z., the Bank and E.S.A. are companies incorporated in the United Kingdom and are companies within the meaning of the U.K. Companies Acts and are companies limited by shares;\n\n(c) A.N.Z. and E.S.A. each carries on the business of banking in the State as well as elsewhere in The Commonwealth and overseas;\n\n(d) by a scheme of arrangement sanctioned under section 206 of the U.K. Companies Acts, which arrangement took effect on 23 June 1969, A.N.Z. and E.S.A. became wholly‑owned subsidiaries of the Bank;\n\n(e) the scheme of arrangement was proposed with a view to the merger of the undertakings of A.N.Z. and E.S.A.;\n\n(f) on 22 May 1969 the Treasurer of The Commonwealth consented to the transfer of the business of A.N.Z. and of E.S.A. in The Commonwealth to the Bank;\n\n(g) to effectively vest in the Bank the undertakings of A.N.Z. and E.S.A. that are carried on in the State, it is expedient to enact this Act;\n\n(h) Australia and New Zealand Savings Bank Limited (in this preamble referred to as A.N.Z. Savings Bank) was incorporated in the United Kingdom as a company within the meaning of the U.K. Companies Acts and is a company limited by shares, and E.S. & A. Savings Bank Limited (in this preamble referred to as E.S.A. Savings Bank) is incorporated in Victoria and is a company within the meaning of the *Companies Act 1961* as amended of the Parliament of Victoria and is a company limited by shares;\n\n(i) A.N.Z. Savings Bank and E.S.A. Savings Bank each carries on the business of a savings bank in the State as well as elsewhere in The Commonwealth;\n\n(j) A.N.Z. Savings Bank is a wholly‑owned subsidiary of A.N.Z. and E.S.A. Savings Bank is a wholly‑owned subsidiary of E.S.A.;\n\n(k) it is expedient in the interests of the Bank that the undertakings of A.N.Z. Savings Bank and E.S.A. Savings Bank should be merged;\n\n(l) on 22 May 1970 the Treasurer of The Commonwealth consented to the transfer of the business of E.S.A. Savings Bank to A.N.Z. Savings Bank;\n\n(m) by the *Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Act 1970* of the Parliament of Victoria provision is made, among other things, for A.N.Z. Savings Bank to become a company deemed to be incorporated in Victoria and for the transfer to A.N.Z. Savings Bank of the undertaking of E.S.A. Savings Bank and for other purposes incidental thereto;\n\n(n) the incorporation of A.N.Z. Savings Bank in Victoria may be effected under the Act of the Parliament of Victoria prior to the appointed day under this Act;\n\n(o) to vest the undertaking of E.S.A. Savings Bank carried on in the State in A.N.Z. Savings Bank, it is expedient to enact this Act;\n\nBe it enacted by the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: —\n\n## Part I — Preliminary\n\n##### 1. Short title and commencement\n\n(1) This Act may be cited as the *Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Act 1970*.\n\n(2) This Act shall come into operation —\n\n(a) where a day is not appointed under paragraph (b), on 1 October 1970; or\n\n(b) where a day is appointed by proclamation (being a day that is later than 1 October 1970) for the purpose of this paragraph, upon that day.\n\n[**2.** Deleted: No. 10 of 1998 s. 76.]\n\n##### 3. Act binds the Crown\n\nThis Act binds the Crown.\n\n##### 4. Interpretation\n\nIn this Act, unless the contrary intention appears —\n\n  A.N.Z. Savings Bank means Australia and New Zealand Savings Bank Limited;\n\n  appointed day means the day of the coming into operation of this Act;\n\n  E.S.A. Savings Bank means E.S. & A. Savings Bank Limited;\n\n  excluded assets means —\n\n(a) any document required to be kept by an existing bank or by E.S.A. Savings Bank pursuant to the provisions of the *Companies Act 1961* 1; and\n\n(b) any land that is, immediately before the appointed day, vested in, belonging to, or held by, an existing bank or E.S.A. Savings Bank otherwise than by way of security and while so vested, so belonging or so held after that day,\n\nand excluded asset shall be construed accordingly;\n\n  existing banks means Australia and New Zealand Bank Limited and The English, Scottish and Australian Bank, Limited, and existing bank shall be construed accordingly;\n\n  land includes any estate, interest or right (whether legal or equitable) in, over or under land;\n\n  liabilities means duties and obligations of every description but does not include any duty or obligation of an existing bank or E.S.A. Savings Bank relating to an excluded asset;\n\n  property means property and assets of every description of an existing bank or E.S.A. Savings Bank, and includes securities, rights and powers of every description, vested in, or exercisable by, an existing bank or vested in, or exercisable by, E.S.A. Savings Bank;\n\n  security means a mortgage (whether legal or equitable), charge, debenture, bill of exchange, promissory note, guarantee, lien, pledge or other means of securing the payment of a debt, whether present or future, or the discharge of an obligation or liability, whether actual or contingent;\n\n  the Bank means Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited;\n\n  the undertaking of an existing bank means the business and all the property, except any excluded asset or any right or power of an existing bank relating to an excluded asset, vested in, or belonging to, or held by, that existing bank immediately before the appointed day and all liabilities to which that existing bank is subject immediately before that day, and the undertakings of the existing banks shall be construed accordingly;\n\n  the undertaking of E.S.A. Savings Bank means the business and all the property, except any excluded asset or any right or power of E.S.A. Savings Bank relating to an excluded asset, vested in, or belonging to, or held by, E.S.A. Savings Bank immediately before the appointed day and all the liabilities to which E.S.A. Savings Bank is subject immediately before that day.\n\n## Part II — Vesting of undertakings of Australia and New Zealand Bank Limited and The English, Scottish and Australian Bank, Limited in Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited\n\n##### 5. Vesting of undertakings of existing banks in the Bank\n\nOn the appointed day the undertakings of the existing banks shall, by virtue of this Act, be divested from the existing banks and vested in the Bank.\n\n##### 6. Transfer of contracts, etc., with existing banks\n\n(1) Subject to subsection (2), all contracts, agreements, conveyances, deeds, leases, licences and other instruments or undertakings entered into by, or made with, or addressed to, an existing bank (whether alone or with any other person) in force immediately before the appointed day, shall on and after that day to the extent that they were immediately before that day binding upon and enforceable by or against the existing bank, be binding and of full force and effect in every respect in favour of or against the Bank as fully and effectually as if, instead of the existing bank, the Bank had been a party thereto or bound thereby or entitled to the benefit thereof.\n\n(2) The provisions of subsection (1) do not apply to any contract, agreement, conveyance, deed, lease, licence, instrument or undertaking relating to an excluded asset.\n\n##### 7. Transfer of banking businesses of existing banks to the Bank\n\nWithout prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provisions of this Part, the following provisions have effect with relation to the banking businesses of the existing banks —\n\n(a) the relationship between an existing bank and a customer at any office or branch of that existing bank shall, on and after the appointed day, be between the Bank and that customer, and shall give rise to the same rights and the same duties (including rights of set‑off) as would have existed before that day if that relationship had been between the Bank and the customer, and so that any instruction, order, direction, mandate or authority given by that customer to the existing bank and subsisting at or given after the appointed day shall, unless and until revoked or cancelled, be deemed to have been given to the Bank;\n\n(b) any security held by an existing bank as security for the payment of debts or liabilities (whether present or future, certain or contingent) of any person shall be transferred or deemed to be transferred to the Bank on the appointed day, and shall be held by and be available to the Bank as security for the payment of those debts and liabilities to the Bank; and where the security extends to future advances to, or to future liabilities of, the person, the security shall, as on and after that day, subject to any agreement between the Bank and the person, be held by and be available to the Bank as security for future advances to the person by, and future liabilities of the person to, the Bank to the same extent to which future advances by, or liabilities to, the existing bank were secured thereby immediately before that day;\n\n(c) the Bank shall, in relation to any security transferred or deemed to have been transferred to it in accordance with or by virtue of this Act and the moneys thereby secured, be entitled to the same rights and priorities and subject to the same obligations and incidents as the existing bank from which the security has been transferred or deemed to have been transferred would have been entitled and subject to, if the security had continued to be held by that existing bank;\n\n(d) the custody of any document, goods or thing held by an existing bank as bailee for any other person at any office or branch of that existing bank shall be transferred or deemed to be transferred to the Bank on the appointed day, and the rights and obligations of that existing bank under any contract of bailment relating to the document, goods or thing shall be transferred or deemed to be transferred on that day to the Bank;\n\n(e) any negotiable instrument or order for payment of money, whether drawn, given, accepted or endorsed before, on or after the appointed day, that is expressed to be drawn on, or given to, or accepted or endorsed by, an existing bank, or payable at any place of business of an existing bank shall have the same effect on and after the appointed day as if it had been drawn on, or given to, or accepted or endorsed by, the Bank, or payable at the same place of business of the Bank.\n\n##### 8. Actions, etc., by or against existing banks not to abate\n\n(1) This section applies to —\n\n(a) any action, arbitration or proceeding or cause of action, arbitration or proceeding that shall, on the appointed day, be pending or existing by, against or in favour of an existing bank;\n\n(b) any cause of action, arbitration or proceeding by, against or in favour of an existing bank arising after the appointed day and which arises in respect of a contract made by an existing bank before the appointed day or which arises in respect of anything done or omitted to be done by an existing bank before the appointed day;\n\nbut does not apply to any action, arbitration or proceeding or to any cause of action, arbitration or proceeding relating to an excluded asset.\n\n(2) Subject to subsection (3), any action, arbitration or proceeding and any cause of action, arbitration or proceeding to which this section applies shall not abate or be discontinued or be in any way prejudicially affected by reason of this Act, and it may be prosecuted and, without amendment of any writ, pleading or other document, continued and enforced by, against or in favour of the Bank in its own name as and when it might have been prosecuted, continued and enforced by, against or in favour of the existing bank if this Act had not been enacted.\n\n(3) The Court or other person making or entering any judgment, order or award for the payment of any sum of money, whether ascertained or to be ascertained, against the Bank in any action, arbitration or proceeding to which subsection (2) refers shall, at the request of any party in whose favour the judgment, order or award is being made or entered, make or enter it against both the existing bank and the Bank, and it may, when so made or entered, be enforced against both the existing bank and the Bank.\n\n##### 9. Actions, etc., relating to excluded assets of existing banks\n\nAny party to any action, arbitration or proceeding relating to an excluded asset is entitled at any stage thereof to amend any writ, pleading or other document filed by him in the action, arbitration or proceeding by substituting therein for the name of the Bank the name of an existing bank as a party, and no order shall be made against any party so amending to pay to the Bank or to an existing bank any costs occasioned by such amendment, and the action, arbitration or proceeding shall be continued as if the existing bank had originally been made a party thereto.\n\n##### 10. Application of *Evidence Act 1906*\n\n(1) Notwithstanding the vesting of the undertakings of the existing banks in the Bank under and in terms of this Act, sections 89 to 95 inclusive of the *Evidence Act 1906* continue to apply with respect to the bankers’ books of the existing banks that are transferred to the Bank by virtue of this Act as if those bankers’ books were bankers’ books used in the ordinary business of the Bank.\n\n(2) In subsection (1) bankers’ books  means ledgers, day books, cash books, account books, and all other books and records used in the ordinary business of an existing bank before the appointed day.\n\n##### 11. References in enactments and documents to existing banks\n\nWhere —\n\n(a) any enactment other than an enactment in this Act; or\n\n(b) any document whenever made or executed, other than a document constituting or relating to any pension scheme, provident fund or officers’ guarantee fund of an existing bank,\n\ncontains any reference express or implied to an existing bank, that reference shall, on and after the appointed day, be read, construed and take effect as a reference to the Bank, except to the extent that the reference relates to an excluded asset and except where the context otherwise requires.\n\n##### 12. Continuation of employees’ rights\n\nNothing in this Act prejudices or affects any right that, immediately before the appointed day, had accrued or was accruing under any Act, award or industrial agreement, or under any document constituting or relating to any pension scheme, provident fund or officers’ guarantee fund of an existing bank, to an employee under a contract of employment to which section 6 applies, and —\n\n(a) any such right so accruing shall, until it is lawfully terminated or varied, continue to accrue as if —\n\n(i) this Act had not been enacted; and\n\n(ii) service with the Bank were, for the purposes of the Act, award, industrial agreement or document pursuant to which the right was accruing, service with the existing bank that immediately before the appointed day was bound by that contract of employment;\n\nand\n\n(b) any such right so accrued and any such right so accruing, when accrued, shall be enforceable against the Bank instead of against the existing bank in the same way, at the same time and to the same extent as it might have been enforced against the existing bank if this Act had not been enacted.\n\n## Part III — Vesting of undertaking of E.S. & A. Savings Bank Limited in Australia and New Zealand Savings Bank Limited\n\n##### 13. Vesting of undertaking of E.S.A. Savings Bank in A.N.Z. Savings Bank\n\nOn the appointed day the undertaking of E.S.A. Savings Bank shall by virtue of this Act be divested from E.S.A. Savings Bank and vested in A.N.Z. Savings Bank.\n\n##### 14. Transfer of contracts, etc., with E.S.A. Savings Bank\n\n(1) Subject to subsection (2), all contracts, agreements, conveyances, deeds, leases, licences and other instruments or undertakings entered into by or made with or addressed to E.S.A. Savings Bank (whether alone or with any other person), in force immediately before the appointed day, shall, on and after that day, to the extent that they were immediately before that day binding upon and enforceable by or against E.S.A. Savings Bank, be binding and of full force and effect in every respect in favour of or against A.N.Z. Savings Bank as fully and effectually as if, instead of E.S.A. Savings Bank, A.N.Z. Savings Bank had been a party thereto or bound thereby or entitled to the benefit thereof.\n\n(2) The provisions of subsection (1) do not apply to any contract, agreement, conveyance, deed, lease, licence, instrument or undertaking relating to an excluded asset.\n\n##### 15. Transfer of Savings Bank business of E.S.A. Savings Bank to A.N.Z. Savings Bank\n\nWithout prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provisions of this Part, the following provisions have effect with relation to the banking business of E.S.A. Savings Bank —\n\n(a) the relationship between E.S.A. Savings Bank and a customer or depositor at any office or branch or agency of E.S.A. Savings Bank shall, on and after the appointed day, be between A.N.Z. Savings Bank and the customer or depositor, and shall give rise to the same rights and the same duties (including rights of set‑off) as would have existed before that day if that relationship had been between A.N.Z. Savings Bank and the customer or depositor and so that any instruction, order, direction, mandate or authority given by the customer or depositor to E.S.A. Savings Bank and subsisting at or given after the appointed day shall, unless and until revoked or cancelled, be deemed to have been given to A.N.Z. Savings Bank;\n\n(b) any security held by E.S.A. Savings Bank as security for the payment of debts or liabilities (whether present or future, certain or contingent) of any person shall be transferred or deemed to be transferred to A.N.Z. Savings Bank on the appointed day, and shall be held by and be available to A.N.Z. Savings Bank as security for the payment of those debts and liabilities to A.N.Z. Savings Bank; and where the security extends to future advances to or to future liabilities of the person, the security shall, as on and after that day, subject to any agreement between A.N.Z. Savings Bank and the person, be held by and be available to A.N.Z. Savings Bank as security for future advances to the person by, and future liabilities of the person to, A.N.Z. Savings Bank to the same extent to which future advances by, or liabilities to, E.S.A. Savings Bank were secured thereby immediately before that day;\n\n(c) A.N.Z. Savings Bank shall, in relation to any security transferred or deemed to have been transferred to it in accordance with or by virtue of this Act and the moneys thereby secured, be entitled to the same rights and priorities and subject to the same obligations and incidents as E.S.A. Savings Bank would have been entitled and subject to if the security had continued to be held by E.S.A. Savings Bank;\n\n(d) the custody of any document, goods or thing held by E.S.A. Savings Banks as bailee for any other person at any office or branch of E.S.A. Savings Bank shall be transferred or deemed to be transferred to A.N.Z. Savings Bank on the appointed day and the rights and obligations of E.S.A. Savings Bank under any contract of bailment relating to the document, goods or thing shall be transferred or deemed to be transferred on that day to A.N.Z. Savings Bank;\n\n(e) any negotiable instrument or order for payment of money, whether drawn, given, accepted or endorsed before, on or after the appointed day, that is expressed to be drawn on, or given to, or accepted or endorsed by, E.S.A. Savings Bank, or payable at any place of business of E.S.A. Savings Bank shall have the same effect on and after the appointed day as if it had been drawn on, or given to, or accepted or endorsed by, A.N.Z. Savings Bank, or payable at the same place of business of A.N.Z. Savings Bank.\n\n##### 16. Actions, etc., by or against E.S.A. Savings Bank not to abate\n\n(1) This section applies to —\n\n(a) any action, arbitration or proceeding or cause of action, arbitration or proceeding that shall, on the appointed day, be pending or existing by, against or in favour of E.S.A. Savings Bank;\n\n(b) any cause of action, arbitration or proceeding by, against or in favour of E.S.A. Savings Bank arising after the appointed day and which arises in respect of a contract made by E.S.A. Savings Bank before the appointed day or which arises in respect of anything done or omitted to be done by E.S.A. Savings Bank before the appointed day,\n\nbut does not apply to any action, arbitration or proceeding or to any cause of action, arbitration or proceeding relating to an excluded asset.\n\n(2) Subject to subsection (3), any action, arbitration or proceeding and any cause of action, arbitration or proceeding to which this section applies shall not abate or be discontinued or be in any way prejudicially affected by reason of this Act, and it may be prosecuted and, without amendment of any writ, pleading or other document, continued and enforced by, against or in favour of A.N.Z. Savings Bank in its own name as and when it might have been prosecuted, continued and enforced by, against or in favour of E.S.A. Savings Bank if this Act had not been enacted.\n\n(3) The Court or other person making or entering any judgment, order or award for the payment of any sum of money, whether ascertained or to be ascertained, against A.N.Z. Savings Bank in any such action, arbitration or proceeding to which subsection (2) refers shall, at the request of any party in whose favour the judgment, order or award is being made or entered, make or enter it against both E.S.A. Savings Bank and A.N.Z. Savings Bank, and it may, when so made or entered, be enforced against both E.S.A. Savings Bank and A.N.Z. Savings Bank.\n\n##### 17. Actions, etc., relating to excluded assets of E.S.A. Savings Bank\n\nAny party to any action, arbitration or proceeding relating to an excluded asset is entitled at any stage thereof to amend any writ, pleading or other document filed by him in the action, arbitration or proceeding by substituting therein for the name of A.N.Z. Savings Bank the name of E.S.A. Savings Bank as a party, and no order shall be made against any party so amending to pay to A.N.Z. Savings Bank or to E.S.A. Savings Bank any costs occasioned by such amendment, and the action, arbitration or proceeding shall be continued as if E.S.A. Savings Bank had originally been made a party thereto.\n\n##### 18. Application of *Evidence Act 1906*\n\n(1) Notwithstanding the vesting of the of undertaking of E.S.A. Savings Bank in A.N.Z. Savings Bank under and in terms of this Act, the provisions of sections 89 to 95 inclusive of the *Evidence Act 1906* continue to apply with respect to the bankers’ books of E.S.A. Savings Bank that are transferred to A.N.Z. Savings Bank by virtue of this Act as if such bankers’ books were bankers’ books used in the ordinary business of A.N.Z. Savings Bank.\n\n(2) In subsection (1) bankers’ books means ledgers, day books, cash books, account books, and all other books and records used in the ordinary business of E.S.A. Savings Bank before the appointed day.\n\n##### 19. References in enactments and documents to E.S.A. Savings Bank\n\nWhere —\n\n(a) any enactment other than an enactment in this Act; or\n\n(b) any document whenever made or executed,\n\ncontains any reference express or implied to E.S.A. Savings Bank, that reference shall, on and after the appointed day, be read, construed and take effect as a reference to A.N.Z. Savings Bank, except to the extent that the reference relates to an excluded asset and except where the context otherwise requires.\n\n## Part IV — General\n\n##### 20. Entry of the Bank on land not to constitute assignment, etc.\n\nIt is hereby declared —\n\n(a) that the entry of the Bank upon, or the use, enjoyment or occupation by the Bank of, any land on or after the appointed day as tenant, sub‑tenant or licensee of or under an existing bank or of or under E.S.A. Savings Bank does not constitute an assignment, transfer, underletting, devolution, parting with possession or other disposition of that land for the purpose of any provision relating to assignment, transfer, underletting, devolution, parting with possession or other disposition contained in any instrument in existence on the appointed day and relating to that land; and\n\n(b) that no transfer or vesting effected by virtue of this Act invalidates or discharges any contract or security.\n\n##### 21. Service of documents\n\nService of a document, as defined in section 5(1) of the *Companies Act 1961* 1 —\n\n(a) on the Bank, shall be deemed to be service on each of the existing banks;\n\n(b) on an existing bank, shall be deemed to be service on the Bank;\n\n(c) on A.N.Z. Savings Bank, shall be deemed to be service on E.S.A. Savings Bank; or\n\n(d) on E.S.A. Savings Bank, shall be deemed to be service on A.N.Z. Savings Bank,\n\nbut —\n\n(e) paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section shall cease to have any force and effect upon the relevant existing bank ceasing to be a subsidiary of the Bank within the meaning of section 6(1) of the *Companies Act 1961* 1; and\n\n(f) paragraphs (c) and (d) of this section shall cease to have any force and effect upon E.S.A. Savings Bank ceasing to be a subsidiary of the Bank within the meaning of section 6(1) of the *Companies Act 1961* 1.\n\n##### 22. Protection of persons in respect of dealings with excluded assets\n\n(1) No person dealing in any capacity —\n\n(a) with the Bank or an existing bank; or\n\n(b) with A.N.Z. Savings Bank or E.S.A. Savings Bank,\n\nnor the Registrar of Titles or the Registrar of Deeds, nor any other person registering or certifying title to land or having the power or duty to examine or receive evidence as to title to land, shall, in respect of any dealing or transaction entered into or purporting to be entered into by the Bank, an existing bank, A.N.Z. Savings Bank or E.S.A. Savings Bank, be —\n\n(c) concerned to see or enquire into whether any property the subject of the dealing or transaction (whether or not that property is land) is an excluded asset; or\n\n(d) affected by any notice, express, implied or constructive, that any such property is an excluded asset.\n\n(2) If any dealing or transaction is entered into by the Bank or A.N.Z. Savings Bank with any person, in relation to or in connection with an excluded asset, it shall be deemed in favour of that person that the Bank or A.N.Z. Savings Bank, as the case may be, has full power and authority to enter into that dealing or transaction as if the excluded asset had vested in the Bank or A.N.Z. Savings Bank, as the case may be, under this Act.\n\n(3) Nothing in this section affects the liability of the Bank to an existing bank, or of A.N.Z. Savings Bank to E.S.A. Savings Bank, in respect of anything done, or purporting to be done, by the Bank or A.N.Z. Savings Bank, as the case may be, in relation to or in connection with an excluded asset.\n\n##### 23. Registration authority to give effect\n\nThe Registrar of Titles, the Registrar of Deeds, the Registrar of Companies 2, the Principal Registrar under the *Mining Act 1904* 3, and any other person authorised by an Act to record and give effect to the registration of documents relating to transactions affecting any estate or interest in land or other property, shall take cognizance of this Act and is empowered, to record and register in the appropriate manner such of those documents as are necessary to give effect to this Act in relation to any land or property to which the documents properly relate.\n\n##### 24. Saving of Acts relating to Banks\n\nNothing in this Act exempts the Bank or A.N.Z. Savings Bank from the provisions of any Act relating to companies carrying on the business of banking.\n\n##### 25. Duty and fees payable\n\nNothing in this Act exempts any person from payment of duty chargeable under the *Stamp Act 1921*, or from payment of any fees payable by or under any Act.\n\n![]()\n\nNotes\n\nThis is a compilation of the *Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Act 1970* and includes amendments made by other written laws. For provisions that have come into operation, and for information about any reprints, see the compilation table. For provisions that have not yet come into operation see the uncommenced provisions table.\n\nCompilation table\n\n| **Short title** | **Number and year** | **Assent** | **Commencement** |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| *Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Act 1970* | 44 of 1970 | 29 Sep 1970 | 1 Oct 1970 (see s. 1(2)(a)) |\n| *Statutes (Repeals and Minor Amendments) Act (No. 2) 1998* s. 76 | 10 of 1998 | 30 Apr 1998 | 30 Apr 1998 (see s. 2(1)) |\n| **Reprint 1: The *Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Act 1970* as at 17 Oct 2003** (includes amendments listed above) | | | |\n\n\nUncommenced provisions table\n\nTo view the text of the uncommenced provisions see *Acts as passed* on the WA legislation website.\n\n| **Short title** | **Number and year** | **Assent** | **Commencement** |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| *Evidence Act 2025* Pt. 12 Div. 2 | 15 of 2025 | 25 Sep 2025 | To be proclaimed (see s. 2(e)) |\n\n\nOther notes\n\n1 The *Companies Act 1961* was superseded by the *Companies (Western Australia) Code*, see section 18 of the *Companies (Application of Laws) Act 1981*. The *Companies (Western Australia) Code* was superseded by the Corporations Law which, on 15 July 2001, was superseded by the *Corporations Act 2001* of the Commonwealth. See Part 13 Division 2 of the *Corporations (Western Australia) Act 1990* and Part 2 of the *Corporations (Ancillary Provisions) Act 2001* respectively.\n\n2 At the time this reprint was prepared the “Registrar of Companies” was an office created by the *Companies Act 1943*. That Act is now cited as the *Companies (Co‑operative) Act 1943*.\n\n3 Repealed by the *Mining Act 1978*.\n\nDefined terms\n\n*[This is a list of terms defined and the provisions where they are defined. The list is not part of the law.]*\n\n**Defined term Provision(s)**\n\nA.N.Z. Savings Bank 4\n\nappointed day 4\n\nbankers’ books 10(2), 18(2)\n\nE.S.A. Savings Bank 4\n\nexcluded asset 4\n\nexcluded assets 4\n\nexisting bank 4\n\nexisting banks 4\n\nland 4\n\nliabilities 4\n\nproperty 4\n\nsecurity 4\n\nthe Bank 4\n\nthe undertaking of an existing bank 4\n\nthe undertaking of E.S.A. Savings Bank 4\n\nthe undertakings of the existing banks 4\n\n© State of Western Australia 2025.\n\nThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY 4.0). To view relevant information and for a link to a copy of the licence, visit www.legislation.wa.gov.au.\n\nAttribute work as: © State of Western Australia 2025.\n\nBy Authority: GEOFF O. LAWN, Government Printer\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act implements a specific corporate restructuring: vesting the undertakings of named banks in successor companies. Later minor amendments noted in the compilation (for example repeal of a provision in 1998) and the historical updating of external statute references do not broaden the Act’s subject‑matter beyond that original purpose. The core scope — automatic statutory transfer of business, contracts, securities, and related legal continuity — remains the Act’s original and continuing purpose (see preamble; ss.5, 6, 13, 14)."},"complexity_factors":["About 14 defined terms in the interpretation section (s.4) controlling scope (e.g. \"excluded assets\", \"the undertaking\")","Multiple automatic‑transfer clauses that operate across different subject‑matter (contracts, securities, bailments, negotiable instruments) — see ss.6–7 and ss.14–15","Exception carve‑out for \"excluded assets\" creating parallel rules for vesting and litigation (s.4; ss.9, 17, 22)","Cross‑references to external statutes (Evidence Act 1906, Companies Act 1961, Stamp Act 1921 and later company law developments) — see ss.10, 18, 25 and notes","Procedural provisions preserving and transferring litigation and judgments, including a dual‑entry option for judgments (s.8(2)–(3); ss.16(2)–(3))","Conditional service rules that cease to operate on change of subsidiary status (s.21(e)–(f))","Registrar/recording duties to give effect to transfers (s.23) which require administrative action by third parties","Separate but parallel Parts for trading banks and savings bank (Parts II and III) increasing repetition and mirrored exceptions"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this Act does (mechanics)**\n\n- Automatically transfers (vests) the businesses, assets and liabilities of two UK‑incorporated banks that were operating in Western Australia — Australia and New Zealand Bank Limited (A.N.Z.) and The English, Scottish and Australian Bank, Limited (E.S.A.) — into a single Australian company, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (the Bank), on the appointed day (see s.5 and s.4 definitions).\n- Separately, it transfers the business of E.S. & A. Savings Bank Limited (a Victorian company) into Australia and New Zealand Savings Bank Limited (A.N.Z. Savings Bank) on the appointed day (s.13).\n- Gives legal effect to those transfers across existing contracts, proceedings and banking records so that the Bank (or A.N.Z. Savings Bank) steps into the shoes of the old entities for almost all purposes: contracts, securities, customer relationships, bailments, negotiable instruments and bankers’ books (ss.6, 7, 14, 15, 10, 18).\n- Preserves employees’ accrued and accruing industrial rights and pension/benefit entitlements by making service with the Bank count as service with the old bank for those purposes (s.12).\n- Provides special treatment for certain “excluded assets” (defined at s.4): documents required to be kept under the old Companies Act and land vested in the old banks other than by way of security. Rights and proceedings that specifically relate to excluded assets remain with the original company or allow substitution of names in actions (ss.9, 17, 22).\n- Keeps duties, fees and statutory obligations intact: the Bank and A.N.Z. Savings Bank remain subject to banking legislation and stamp duties and fees remain payable (ss.24–25).\n- Requires registrars and registration authorities to record and give legal effect to documents needed to implement the transfers (s.23). Service rules are adjusted so service on one relevant entity may count as service on the other while subsidiary relationships remain (s.21).\n\n**Who is affected**\n\n- The two existing banks (A.N.Z. and E.S.A.), E.S.A. Savings Bank, the Bank (Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited) and A.N.Z. Savings Bank (ss.4, 5, 13).\n- Customers, depositors, borrowers and other counterparties of those banks: their contractual relationships automatically continue with the new entities (ss.6(1), 7(a), 14(1), 15(a)).\n- Secured parties: securities held by the old banks are transferred to the Bank/A.N.Z. Savings Bank and retain the same priority and incidents (ss.7(b)–(c), 15(b)–(c)).\n- Employees: existing accrued and accruing industrial and benefit rights remain enforceable against the successor (s.12).\n- Registrars and official record‑keepers who must give effect to the transfers (s.23).\n\n**Why it matters (purpose and legal effect)**\n\n- The Act mechanically implements a corporate reorganisation (a merger / transfer of undertakings) so that the single successor company can operate the former banks’ businesses within Western Australia without requiring individual novation or re‑execution of every contract or security (preamble; ss.5, 6, 13, 14).\n\n**Official rationale (as stated in the preamble)**\n\n- To vest in the Bank the undertakings of A.N.Z. and E.S.A. that were carried on in the State and to vest the undertaking of E.S.A. Savings Bank in A.N.Z. Savings Bank, in order to merge those undertakings and permit the successor companies to carry on the banking businesses in Australia.\n\n**Testing that rationale against costs, incentives and trade‑offs**\n\n- Transaction costs and continuity: By automatic vesting and deeming clauses (ss.5–7, 13–15), the Act reduces administrative friction (no need for wholesale novations or re‑registration) and lowers counterparty consent costs. That is achieved at the legal cost of shifting counterparties’ contractual counterparty without their prior consent (mechanism: ss.6(1), 14(1)).\n\n- Who pays / who bears change: Contractual counterparties (customers, borrowers, guarantors) and secured creditors face a change in the legal counterparty but not in substantive rights: the Bank assumes liabilities and securities continue to secure the same obligations with the same priorities (ss.7(b)–(c), 15(b)–(c)). Thus private parties incur potential monitoring or administrative costs (re-recording, dealing with a new corporate entity) but the Act shields many of those costs by statutory deeming and registrar powers (s.23).\n\n- Employee continuity and labour cost risk: Employees keep accrued and accruing rights enforceable against the successor employer (s.12). The Act treats service with the Bank as if service had been with the old bank for enforcement of industrial rights — this preserves employee entitlements and limits litigation risk over employment continuity but may leave implementation details (payroll, award coverage) to administrative processes.\n\n- Title and excluded‑asset risk: The Act carves out certain “excluded assets” (s.4) so land and specified statutory documents do not automatically vest. That protects title‑sensitive assets from automatic transfer but creates a layer of complexity for transactions involving excluded assets. The Act mitigates transfer risk by protecting third parties who deal without enquiring into excluded status (s.22) and by allowing substitution of names in litigation (ss.9, 17).\n\n- Regulatory and fiscal obligations retained: The successor companies remain subject to banking laws and must pay relevant stamp duties and fees (ss.24–25). There is no statutory exemption from those statutory obligations.\n\n- Judicial and enforcement consequences: Existing litigation continues in the name of the successor (s.8(2)). Courts can, at a party’s request, enter judgment against both the old and the new companies (s.8(3)), which preserves remedies for claimants but can expose both entities to enforcement in limited circumstances.\n\n**Practical effects on private choice and markets**\n\n- Customers and counterparties must accept the new legal counterparty unless the contract relates to an excluded asset or is varied by agreement; instructions and mandates previously given to the old bank continue as if given to the successor until revoked (ss.7(a), 15(a)).\n- Secured creditors retain their security interests and priorities, so the economic substance of secured lending is preserved (ss.7(c), 15(c)).\n- Registrars are required to record transfers where relevant, which reduces friction in updating land and security registers (s.23).\n\n**Implementation risks and administrative burdens**\n\n- Updating records, signage and counterparty documentation across branches and registries will be necessary in practice even if the law effects the transfer automatically; this creates administrative cost.\n- Excluded assets create a small set of cases requiring separate attention (land and statutory company documents), which may produce isolated title or transfer disputes unless properly recorded (s.4; ss.9, 17, 22).\n\n**Sections to note for particular consequences**\n\n- Automatic vesting of undertakings: s.5 (existing banks), s.13 (E.S.A. Savings Bank)\n- Transfer of contracts and securities: ss.6–7 (existing banks); ss.14–15 (savings bank)\n- Actions and proceedings: ss.8–9 (existing banks); ss.16–17 (savings bank)\n- Bankers’ books / evidence rules: ss.10, 18\n- Excluded assets and protections for third parties: s.4 (definition), s.22\n- Continuation of employee rights: s.12\n- Registrars and recording: s.23\n- Duties, fees and regulatory obligations remain: ss.24–25\n\n"},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"Unauthenticated. Configure AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY or use a provider module. Learn more: https://ai-sdk.dev/unauthenticated-ai-gateway","source":"analysis-cron"},"summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be meaningfully assessed as the legislative text is inaccessible. Based on the title alone, the Act appears to have remained narrowly focused on its original purpose — likely the formal recognition or incorporation of the ANZ Banking Group within Western Australia — with no evidence of material scope changes available for review."},"complexity_factors":["The actual legislative text is unavailable — analysis is based solely on the Act's title and era","Banking Acts of this type are typically narrow in scope (incorporation or transitional provisions)","1970s banking legislation is generally straightforward by modern standards","Federal/state jurisdictional overlap in banking law adds a minor layer of complexity in contextualising the Act's relevance"],"plain_english_summary":"The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Act 1970 (WA) was a Western Australian statute concerning ANZ Bank’s legal status and powers in the state—likely formalising incorporation or a corporate change. It mainly affected the bank’s operations in WA at the time. Today it’s probably obsolete or superseded by Commonwealth banking regulation, so it rarely has practical effect."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose: facilitating the 1970 merger of ANZ and ES&A banks and their respective savings bank subsidiaries. The Act has not expanded beyond this specific corporate restructure. The only amendments since 1970 have been minor housekeeping (deletion of spent provisions in 1998) and updates to references in the notes section regarding superseded legislation (Companies Act changes, Mining Act repeal). The core substantive provisions remain unchanged and the Act continues to serve only its original transitional purpose, though it remains on the statute books as a historical record of the property transfers."},"complexity_factors":["Mirror structure: The Act essentially duplicates the same transfer mechanism twice—once for the commercial banks (Part II) and once for the savings banks (Part III)—creating redundancy but not additional complexity.","Defined terms: 13 defined terms in section 4, including nested definitions like 'excluded assets' which itself contains sub-definitions.","Cross-references: References to UK Companies Acts, Victorian legislation, the Commonwealth Treasurer's consent, and Western Australia's own Evidence Act 1906 and Companies Act 1961.","Conditional logic: Multiple 'except where' and 'subject to' clauses, particularly around 'excluded assets' which create exceptions to the general transfer rules.","Temporal mechanics: The Act operates on a specific 'appointed day' trigger, creating a clear before/after legal regime.","Protective provisions: Sections 20-22 contain protective language for third parties dealing with the banks, requiring careful parsing of who is protected from what."],"plain_english_summary":"This is a Western Australian law from 1970 that facilitated a major bank merger. It transferred the business operations (undertakings) of two existing banks—Australia and New Zealand Bank Limited (A.N.Z.) and The English, Scottish and Australian Bank, Limited (E.S.A.)—into a new entity called Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (the Bank). It also transferred the business of E.S. & A. Savings Bank Limited into Australia and New Zealand Savings Bank Limited (A.N.Z. Savings Bank).\n\n**What it does:**\n- **Transfers everything automatically**: On the 'appointed day' (1 October 1970), all assets, liabilities, contracts, customer relationships, securities (like mortgages), and legal proceedings of the old banks moved to the new banks by operation of law—no need for individual transfers.\n- **Protects customers and contracts**: If you had a bank account, loan, or contract with A.N.Z. or E.S.A., it automatically became a contract with the new ANZ Bank. Your instructions to the old bank were treated as instructions to the new one.\n- **Keeps legal actions alive**: Any court cases involving the old banks could continue against the new banks without having to restart them.\n- **Protects employees**: Workers kept their existing rights, pensions, and employment conditions as if they were still employed by the original banks.\n- **Handles exceptions ('excluded assets')**: Some assets (like certain documents required under company law, or land held in specific ways) were carved out and didn't transfer automatically. Special rules apply to these.\n- **Coordinates with other laws**: The Act works alongside similar UK and Victorian legislation to ensure the merger happened smoothly across all jurisdictions where these banks operated.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- Customers of the merging banks (their accounts and loans transferred automatically)\n- Employees (their job security and benefits were protected)\n- People with legal claims against the banks\n- Land registries and government authorities who needed to record the changes\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThis was a technical but crucial piece of legislation that allowed the creation of what became one of Australia's 'Big Four' banks—ANZ—without disrupting millions of customer accounts or requiring thousands of individual property transfers. It shows how parliaments use 'statutory transfer' laws to make complex corporate restructures seamless for the public."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/australia-and-new-zealand-banking-group-act-1970","history":"/api/acts/australia-and-new-zealand-banking-group-act-1970/history","analysis":"/api/acts/australia-and-new-zealand-banking-group-act-1970/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/australia-and-new-zealand-banking-group-act-1970/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/australia-and-new-zealand-banking-group-act-1970/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/australia-and-new-zealand-banking-group-act-1970/documents"}}