{"id":"bank-mergers-act-1997","name":"Bank Mergers Act 1997","slug":"bank-mergers-act-1997","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"wa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":30050,"registerId":"wa-bank-mergers-act-1997-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-01","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Bank Mergers Act 1997","content":"![Crest]()Western Australia\n\nBank Mergers Act 1997\n\nWestern Australia\n\nBank Mergers Act 1997\n\nContents\n\nPart 1 — Preliminary\n\n1. Short title 2\n\n2. Commencement 2\n\n3. Interpretation 2\n\n4. Act binds the Crown 2\n\n5. Provision for merger 3\n\nPart 2 — Regulations as to the merger of banks\n\n6. Regulations, general power 4\n\n7. Regulations for merger 4\n\n8. Regulations as to effect of merger 5\n\n9. Regulations as to duties, taxes, etc. 5\n\n10. Regulations as to miscellaneous matters 5\n\n11. Prerequisite to regulations 6\n\n12. Regulations may override provisions of another Act 6\n\n13. Extra‑territorial application 6\n\nPart 3 — Application of law of another State or a Territory\n\n14. Definition 7\n\n15. Declaration of law 7\n\n16. Prerequisite to order 7\n\n17. Application of declared law 8\n\nPart 4 — Provisions supplementary to *Bank Mergers (Taxing) Act 1997*\n\n18. Liability for amount 9\n\n19. Certificate to be given 9\n\n20. Effect of certificate 9\n\nPart 5 — Expiry of powers\n\n21. Expiry of powers under this Act 10\n\nNotes\n\nCompilation table 11\n\nDefined terms\n\n  \n\nWestern Australia\n\nBank Mergers Act 1997\n\nAn Act to enable provision to be made for or with respect to the merger of banks by —\n\n• regulations;\n\n• an order for the purpose of applying in this State the law of another State or a Territory; or\n\n• a combination of regulations and an order,\n\nand for related purposes.\n\n## Part 1 — Preliminary\n\n##### 1. Short title\n\nThis Act may be cited as the *Bank Mergers Act 1997* 1.\n\n##### 2. Commencement\n\nThis Act comes into operation on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent 1.\n\n##### 3. Interpretation\n\nIn this Act, unless the contrary intention appears —\n\n  bank means —\n\n(a) an ADI (authorised deposit‑taking institution) as defined in section 5 of the *Banking Act 1959* of the Commonwealth; or\n\n(b) a bank which carries on banking business on behalf of the government of a State under the authority of the laws of that State,\n\nand includes a body corporate that is a subsidiary, within the meaning of the *Corporations Act 2001* of the Commonwealth, of an ADI mentioned in paragraph (a) or a bank mentioned in paragraph (b);\n\n  merger includes any transaction by which a bank acquires another bank, either by the transfer of the whole or part of the undertaking of the other bank, or by becoming the successor in law of the other bank, or by other means;\n\n  Taxing Act means the *Bank Mergers (Taxing) Act 1997*.\n\n[Section 3 amended: No. 26 of 1999 s. 61; No. 10 of 2001 s. 220; No. 8 of 2009 s. 23.]\n\n##### 4. Act binds the Crown\n\nThis Act binds the Crown in right of the State and, so far as the legislative power of the State permits, in all its other capacities.\n\n##### 5. Provision for merger 2\n\nProvision for or with respect to the merger of 2 or more banks may be made by —\n\n(a) regulations under Part 2;\n\n(b) an order under section 15(1); or\n\n(c) a combination of regulations referred to in paragraph (a) and an order referred to in paragraph (b).\n\n## Part 2 — Regulations as to the merger of banks\n\n##### 6. Regulations, general power\n\n(1) The Governor may make regulations for or with respect to the merger of 2 or more banks.\n\n(2) The provisions of this Part (other than sections 7(2) and 11) do not limit subsection (1).\n\n##### 7. Regulations for merger\n\n(1) The regulations may make provision for or with respect to —\n\n(a) the transfer of the whole or part of the undertaking of a bank to another bank and the vesting of the whole or part of that undertaking in the other bank;\n\n(b) the succession of one bank as the successor in law of another bank and the effect of that succession, including —\n\n(i) the vesting of assets or liabilities; and\n\n(ii) the successor being for all purposes a continuation of and the same legal entity as the other bank;\n\n(c) the liquidation or dissolution of a bank that is being merged with another bank;\n\n(d) the obligations of the banks concerned in relation to the merger and related transactions;\n\n(e) the relationship of a bank with the customers or depositors of another bank concerned; and\n\n(f) the use of business names by the banks concerned.\n\n(2) Regulations made for the purposes of subsection (1)(c) may only be made with the approval of the Minister responsible for the administration of the *Corporations (Western Australia) Act 1990*.\n\n##### 8. Regulations as to effect of merger\n\nThe regulations may make provision for or with respect to the effect of the merger on —\n\n(a) existing contracts, agreements (oral or written), deeds, leases, licences and other instruments and other undertakings of a bank that is being merged with another bank;\n\n(b) custody or bailment of documents, goods or things held by the banks concerned;\n\n(c) existing securities of a bank that is being merged with another bank;\n\n(d) the employment, superannuation and related rights of staff of a bank that is being merged with another bank;\n\n(e) existing or pending legal proceedings and evidence in existing or future legal proceedings, and on legal rights and obligations; and\n\n(f) the liabilities of the banks concerned.\n\n##### 9. Regulations as to duties, taxes, etc.\n\nThe regulations may make provision for or with respect to the payment, or exemption from payment, by a bank of duties, taxes, charges, rates or other imposts.\n\n##### 10. Regulations as to miscellaneous matters\n\nThe regulations may make provision for or with respect to —\n\n(a) the construction of references to the banks concerned and any other persons or bodies affected by the merger;\n\n(b) service of documents on the banks concerned;\n\n(c) the transfer of assets or liabilities of a bank that is being merged with another bank and the recognition of the transfer by the Registrar of Titles or any other person or authority;\n\n(d) the identification of assets or liabilities of a bank that is being merged with another bank;\n\n(e) the transfer of charges, and compliance with related statutory requirements, as a consequence of the merger;\n\n(f) evidence of matters related to the merger; and\n\n(g) provisions of a savings or transitional nature consequential on the merger and not specifically mentioned in this Part.\n\n##### 11. Prerequisite to regulations\n\nWhere a requirement has been made under section 3(3) of the Taxing Act, regulations cannot be made for the purposes of this Part until —\n\n(a) the requirement has been complied with; and\n\n(b) the Treasurer has given a certificate under section 19 to that effect.\n\n##### 12. Regulations may override provisions of another Act\n\nRegulations made for the purposes of this Part may be expressed to have effect despite the provisions of any other Act relating to —\n\n(a) the payment of duties, taxes, charges, rates or other imposts; or\n\n(b) the registration of —\n\n(i) ownership of assets; or\n\n(ii) liabilities,\n\nand, if so expressed, have effect accordingly.\n\n##### 13. Extra‑territorial application\n\n(1) Regulations made for the purposes of this Part apply both within and outside the State.\n\n(2) The regulations apply outside the State to the full extent of the extra‑territorial legislative power of the State.\n\n## Part 3 — Application of law of another State or a Territory\n\n##### 14. Definition\n\nIn this Part —\n\n  declared law means a law of another State or a Territory declared by order under section 15(1) to be a law to which this Act applies.\n\n##### 15. Declaration of law\n\n(1) The Governor may by order published in the *Gazette* declare a law of another State or a Territory providing for or relating to the merger of banks to be a law to which this Part applies.\n\n(2) An order under subsection (1) may —\n\n(a) exclude specified provisions of the declared law from the operation of this Part;\n\n(b) modify the effect of specified provisions of the declared law in their application under this Part; and\n\n(c) add to the provisions of the declared law for the purposes of its application under this Part.\n\n(3) An order under subsection (1) may be made in respect of a law of another State or a Territory whether or not that law has commenced in that State or Territory.\n\n(4) An order under subsection (1) may be amended or revoked by further order published in the *Gazette*.\n\n(5) Section 42 of the *Interpretation Act 1984* applies to an order under subsection (1) as if the order were a regulation.\n\n##### 16. Prerequisite to order\n\nWhere a requirement has been made under section 3(3) of the Taxing Act, an order cannot be made under section 15(1) until —\n\n(a) the requirement has been complied with; and\n\n(b) the Treasurer has given a certificate under section 19 to that effect.\n\n##### 17. Application of declared law\n\n(1) A declared law applies in this State as if it were a law of this State.\n\n(2) However, in its application in this State a declared law is to be read subject to —\n\n(a) the exclusions, modifications and additions, if any, set out in the relevant order, as amended by any further order; and\n\n(b) the provisions of subsection (4).\n\n(3) The application in this State of a declared law is not affected by its amendment or repeal in the State or Territory in which it was enacted, except to the extent provided by the relevant order, as amended by any further order.\n\n(4) Provisions of a declared law relating to —\n\n(a) the provision of government guarantees; or\n\n(b) exemption from payment of duties, taxes, charges, rates or other imposts,\n\nare excluded from the operation of subsection (1), except to the extent that the relevant order, as amended by any further order, includes them (and subject to any modifications or additions specified in the order).\n\n## Part 4 — Provisions supplementary to *Bank Mergers (Taxing) Act 1997*\n\n##### 18. Liability for amount\n\n(1) Where an amount is required to be paid under section 3(3) of the Taxing Act, the bank or banks concerned is or are liable for payment of the amount.\n\n(2) In the case of 2 or more banks, the banks are jointly and severally liable for the amount, unless the Treasurer otherwise determines.\n\n##### 19. Certificate to be given\n\n(1) The Treasurer must, when satisfied that a requirement under section 3(3) of the Taxing Act has been complied with, give the bank or banks subject to the requirement a certificate stating that the requirement has been complied with.\n\n(2) The Treasurer must, when satisfied that an amount required under section 3(3) of the Taxing Act to be paid on or after a day specified by the Treasurer has been paid, give the bank or banks subject to the requirement a certificate stating that the amount has been paid.\n\n##### 20. Effect of certificate\n\nA certificate under section 19 is, for all purposes and in all courts, tribunals and proceedings, conclusive evidence of the matters certified.\n\n## Part 5 — Expiry of powers\n\n##### 21. Expiry of powers under this Act\n\nNo regulation or order can be made under this Act after 30 June 1997.\n\nNotes\n\n1 This is a compilation of the *Bank Mergers Act 1997* and includes the amendments made by the other written laws referred to in the following table. The table also contains information about any reprint.\n\nCompilation table\n\n| **Short title** | | **Number and year** | | **Assent** | | **Commencement** |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| *Bank Mergers Act 1997* | | 8 of 1997 | | 23 Jun 1997 | | 23 Jun 1997 (see s. 2) |\n| *Acts Amendment and Repeal (Financial Sector Reform) Act 1999* s. 61 | | 26 of 1999 | | 29 Jun 1999 | | 1 Jul 1999 (see s. 2(1) and *Gazette* 30 Jun 1999 p. 2905) |\n| *Corporations (Consequential Amendments) Act 2001* s. 220 | | 10 of 2001 | | 28 Jun 2001 | | 15 Jul 2001 (see s. 2 and *Gazette* 29 Jun 2001 p. 3257 and Cwlth *Gazette* 13 Jul 2001 No. S285) |\n| **Reprint 1: The *Bank Mergers Act 1997* as at 20 Feb 2004** (includes amendments listed above) | | | | | | |\n| *Statutes (Repeals and Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 2009* s. 23 | | 8 of 2009 | | 21 May 2009 | | 22 May 2009 (see s. 2(b)) | |\n\n\n2 The power to make a regulation or order under this Act has expired under s. 21 of this Act.\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\nbank 3\n\ndeclared law 14\n\nmerger 3\n\nTaxing Act 3\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act’s core scope—enabling regulation or order to provide for bank mergers, and permitting application of another State/Territory’s merger law—remains as enacted (see ss.5,6,15–17). Amendments recorded in the compilation update definitions and references (see s.3 amendments in compilation table) but do not broaden the Act’s fundamental enabling purpose. The statutory power to make regulations or orders was time‑limited and expired on 30 June 1997 (s.21), which restricts current operability rather than expanding scope."},"complexity_factors":["Broad delegated power to the Governor to make detailed merger regulations covering transfers, succession, liquidation, employment and contractual effects (ss.6–10) — creates administrative and drafting complexity.","Power to declare and apply another State’s or Territory’s law (with exclusions/modifications) by order (ss.15–17) — introduces cross‑jurisdictional reading and amendment interactions.","Regulations may be expressed to operate despite other Acts on taxes, duties or registration (s.12) — creates potential conflicts and interpretive complexity.","Prerequisite certification and payment requirements tied to the Bank Mergers (Taxing) Act: regulations or orders cannot be made until requirements are met and the Treasurer issues a certificate (ss.11,16,19) — adds an administrative gate and compliance burden.","Banks are made jointly and severally liable for amounts under the Taxing Act unless the Treasurer directs otherwise (s.18) — concentrates financial risk on transaction parties.","Extra‑territorial application of regulations to the full extent of the State’s power (s.13) — expands operational reach and enforcement complexity.","Temporal limitation: no regulation or order can be made after 30 June 1997 (s.21) — imposes a hard deadline on exercising the powers, affecting implementation feasibility."],"plain_english_summary":"This Act authorises the Governor (by regulations) or the Governor by order to make legal arrangements for bank mergers in Western Australia, including transfer of assets/liabilities, succession and recognition of contracts. It makes merging banks liable for amounts under a companion Taxing Act and requires Treasurer certification before some measures take effect. The powers were time‑limited and could apply another State’s or Territory’s merger law in WA."},"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"},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act appears to have maintained its original narrow purpose. It was enacted as a temporary, specific mechanism to facilitate bank mergers in 1997 and included an expiry date (30 June 1997) from the outset. The amendments shown in the compilation table are minor definitional updates (updating references to the Corporations Act and Banking Act) rather than expansions of scope. The Act has not grown beyond its original intent as a time-limited merger facilitation tool."},"complexity_factors":["Short statute (only 21 sections across 5 Parts)","Only 4 defined terms in the interpretation section (bank, merger, Taxing Act, declared law)","Heavy reliance on delegated legislation (regulations and orders) rather than detailed substantive provisions in the Act itself","Cross-references to external legislation: Banking Act 1959 (Cth), Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), Corporations (Western Australia) Act 1990, Bank Mergers (Taxing) Act 1997, and Interpretation Act 1984","Conditional prerequisites in sections 11 and 16 requiring Treasurer certificates before regulations or orders can be made","Extra-territorial application provision (section 13) adding jurisdictional complexity","Mechanism for adopting and modifying laws from other jurisdictions (Part 3) creates layered application rules","Sunset clause (section 21) creating temporal limitation on all powers"],"plain_english_summary":"This is a Western Australian law from 1997 that created a temporary legal framework to help banks merge with each other. It gave the government special powers to make regulations (rules) that would smooth out the legal complications when banks combined their operations.\n\n**What it does:**\n- Allows the Governor to create regulations that transfer bank assets, liabilities, staff, and contracts from one bank to another during a merger\n- Lets Western Australia \"borrow\" laws from other States or Territories if they had better merger rules, and apply them locally with modifications\n- Provides tax-related mechanisms (linked to a separate Taxing Act) where banks might need to pay amounts to facilitate mergers\n- Lets regulations override other laws that might normally block mergers (like stamp duty or registration requirements)\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- Banks operating in Western Australia, including subsidiaries of major banks\n- Bank employees (covers transfer of employment and superannuation rights)\n- Customers of merging banks (covers how their accounts and relationships transfer)\n- The State government (involves the Treasurer certifying payments and requirements)\n\n**Why it matters:**\nBank mergers involve massive legal complexity—thousands of contracts, property titles, staff agreements, and customer accounts need to transfer seamlessly. This Act provided a \"one-stop shop\" legal mechanism to handle all these transfers automatically through regulation rather than requiring individual legal transfers for every asset. It was specifically designed for the major bank mergers happening in Australia in 1997 (like the proposed but ultimately abandoned merger between ANZ and National Australia Bank, or the Westpac-St George context).\n\n**Important note:** The Act's powers expired on 30 June 1997 (see section 21), meaning no new regulations or orders can be made under it today. It now exists only as a historical statute."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/bank-mergers-act-1997","history":"/api/acts/bank-mergers-act-1997/history","analysis":"/api/acts/bank-mergers-act-1997/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/bank-mergers-act-1997/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/bank-mergers-act-1997/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/bank-mergers-act-1997/documents"}}