Staff Reporter
Had Bankwest not been bought by CBA, it would have collapsed.
Speaking at the Senate Inquiry into banking competition, CBA’s chief executive Ralph Norris said the bank was the only company that had the resources to buy Bankwest and keep it operational.
In addition, Mr Norris said the bank would have collapsed had CBA not “bought it”.
"We had to provide $17 billion in funding which no other organisation could have provided at that time in taking over that organisation,” Mr Norris told the Senate.
A bank collapse in Australia at that time would have had an impact across the entire economy.
"I think we would have had difficulties even if we had a smaller bank fail, and I think there was a real risk of that back at the time the Government decided to put in the deposit guarantee," he said.
