History Suncorp Bank

1 history

1.1 state government insurance office
1.2 queensland industry development corporation (qidc)
1.3 suncorp-metway merger
1.4 reducing state government s share of business
1.5 no more metway
1.6 focus on bank

history

the information in section relates suncorp bank. information relating group whole, see history of suncorp group.

state government insurance office

suncorp bank commenced business in 1916 state accident insurance office. not long after, changed name state government insurance office (sgio) , extended operations life insurance, general insurance , compulsory third party. on years, superannuation, building society, , finance operations added.

queensland industry development corporation (qidc)

qidc commenced operations in 1986, evolved queensland agricultural bank established in 1902. operating rural financier, qidc expanded activities include commercial lending small , medium-sized businesses.

suncorp-metway merger

on 1 december 1996, queensland government owned suncorp , qidc entities merged publicly listed company metway bank create new allfinanz group suncorp metway. @ time of merger, suncorp , qidc 100% queensland government owned. suncorp operating allfinanz group approximately $10 billion in assets, while qidc had total assets of $3 billion. metway bank queensland s largest locally based bank operations in new south wales , victoria. @ time of merger, metway bank had approximately $7.1 billion in assets. established metropolitan permanent building society in 1959. in 1988, converted bank status , listed on australian stock exchange (asx). queensland state government proposed merger of 3 companies create more competitive financial institution better geared meet needs of future. merger created australia s fifth largest listed financial services group associated economic benefits of major australian corporate headquarters located in queensland. merger , amalgamation of 3 companies completed in 1999. in may 1999, new brand, suncorp metway, launched. enabled delivery of group s resources under 1 banner, streamlining of product range , elimination of duplication in branch network.

reducing state government s share of business

the state government largest shareholder of new group 68% holding consisting of shares , capital notes in return sale of suncorp , qidc metway bank; other 32% held existing metway shareholders. @ time, state government indicated intention sell down holding in stages within 5 years no more 15%. in september 1997, state government announced public issue of 100 million exchanging instalment notes giving preference existing customers , shareholders of suncorp, metway , qidc. on completion of offer, state government s effective interest in company reduced around 4%. public paid $6.10 notes in 2 instalments , these exchanged ordinary shares on 1 november 1999, increasing number of suncorp metway shareholders 36,000 approximately 111,000. twelve months later state government announced total selldown of shareholding through second exchanging instalment notes issue. first notes issue, second issue attracted considerable public interest , substantially oversubscribed. public paid $7.10 in 2 instalments, second being paid on 6 november 2000. these notes exchanged ordinary shares on 31 october 2001.

no more metway

on 1 july 2002, brand simplified suncorp (i.e. metway dropped). branding used done in queensland, banking , wealth management outside of queensland. gio brand used general insurance business outside of queensland.

a focus on bank

on 19 april 2009 suncorp announced rebranding of banking arm of company suncorp bank. whilst brand name of suncorp known within queensland bank, re-branding suncorp bank supported expansion other states.

today suncorp bank australia s fifth largest bank , core part of suncorp group. group s acquisition of promina group further diversified general insurance , financial services businesses, operating throughout australia , new zealand.