ANZ (bank)

The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, commonly known as ANZ Bank, is a multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is Australia's second-largest bank by assets and fourth-largest bank by market capitalisation. ANZ's foundation started with the opening of the Bank of Australasia in 1835, with its first branch opened in Sydney. In 1951, The Australia and New Zealand Bank was established as a merger of the Bank of Australasia and the Union Bank of Australia, which itself was established in 1837. ANZ's current corporate entity was established on 1 October 1970, when the Australia and New Zealand Bank (ANZ) merged with the English, Scottish & Australian Bank (ES&A). It was the largest bank merger in Australian history at the time.. ANZ is one of the Big Four Australian banks, along with the Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac. Australian operations make up the largest part of ANZ's business, with commercial and retail banking dominating. ANZ is also the largest bank in New Zealand, where the legal entity became known as ANZ National Bank in 2003 and changed to ANZ Bank New Zealand in 2012. From 2003 to 2012, it operated two brands in New Zealand, ANZ and the National Bank of New Zealand. The National Bank brand was retired in 2012, with a number of branches closing and others converting to ANZ branches. In addition to operations throughout Australia and New Zealand, ANZ also operates in 34 other countries. ANZ together with its subsidiaries has a workforce of around 42,000 employees and serves more than 11 million customers worldwide.