Quote Originally Posted by Snoopy View Post
I said 'quasi utility' in that like a power connection and a phone connection and a roof over your head, every 21st century citizen must have a bank account. ANZ, like WBC, is part of the Australian Government 'four pillars' banking policy. I can't remember all the details of WBCs early 90s situation. But I think there was an implicit guarantee that the government woudl bail deposit holders out. That didn't help WBC shareholders at the time of course. But I don't think that even in the market's darkest days, there was ever a prospect that one of the four main Ozzie banks would close up. 'Too big to fail' being the classic Australian term.

SNOOPY

Yes, too big to fail, perhaps, but for Westpac shareholders the concern was that the heavily discounted rights issue needed to right the ship might "fail" and that a marriage with another of the big four might be ordained, to the disadvange of WBC shareholders. We can be rather relaxed about it now but at the time it was a serious concern, as evidenced by the bargain price at which the shares and rights traded.