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Westpac is Australia's first bank and first company. We have 191 years' experience helping our customers to achieve their financial goals through good times and bad.

On April 8, 1817, we opened our doors for business, trading as the Bank of New South Wales. From that single office in Macquarie Place, Sydney, Westpac has grown and prospered to become one of Australia's leading financial services organisations with more than 10 million customers.

With a strategic focus on Australia, New Zealand and the near Pacific, the Westpac Group provides a broad range of banking and financial services – including retail, business and institutional banking. We also have offices in key financial centres around the world including London, New York, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Westpac has a strong track record in terms of financial performance. Over the past 10 years we have delivered consistent growth and are one of only 17 banks globally with a credit rating of "AA" or higher.

Our recent transformational merger with St.George, in December 2008, created a larger, more diverse and even stronger financial services company – well positioned to meet the challenges of the current global environment.

We are passionate about, and extremely proud of, our deep heritage. However, today our focus is firmly on the future and delighting the 10 million customers we put at the centre of everything we do.

Find out more about us – our vision , values and strategy, our brands and businesses, our history and our leadership team.

Fast facts about the Westpac Group (at December 1, 2008):

• Westpac Banking Corporation is ranked in the top 10 listed companies by market capitalisation on the Australian Securities Exchange Limited (ASX)
• We are one of Australia's largest financial services organisations by market capitalisation
• Our strategic focus is on Australia and New Zealand
• We have around 10 million customers
• We employ approximately 40,000 people in Australia, New Zealand and around the world
• In Australia, our Westpac and St.George Retail and Business banking distribution networks offer customers the choice of more than 2,700 ATMs and close to 1,200 branches
• We are the leading provider of home lending in Australia and the largest provider of wealth platforms by funds under administration
• Westpac Banking Corporation is one of only 17 banks in the world with a AA or higher credit rating
• About 500,000 people and institutions in Australia and overseas are shareholders in Westpac
• Westpac merged with St.George Bank in 2008, BT Rothschild in 2002, Bank of Melbourne in 1997, Challenge Bank in 1995, and Trust Bank in New Zealand in 1996.

Operating model
The Westpac Group's operating model is simple – with five customer-facing businesses supported by shared group functions, Product and Operations, and Technology teams.

Our business is organised to ensure we put customers at the centre of everything we do. We operate as simple an organisation as possible – in terms of structure, processes and decision-making.

A key aspect of our customer-focused business strategy is our multi-brand approach, which is all about offering customers choice. Each of our brands provides a distinctive customer experience, but each brand is also committed to a common goal – delighting our customers.

Our five customer-facing divisions are:

• Westpac Retail and Business Banking
• St.George Retail and Business Bank
• BT Financial Group
• Westpac Institutional Bank
• Westpac New Zealand

For a more complete overview of Westpac Banking Corporation

• Read our latest Annual Report
• Briefings and presentations made to the market
• Our recent media releases