Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has denied rumours that it made an offer to buy BankWest, the local financial services division of Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS).
Media reports have cited CBA made a $3 billion bid for BankWest, which was said to be rejected by HBOS because it was too low.
"Commonwealth Bank regularly reviews acquisition opportunities but at this time confirms we do not have any offer with HBOS to acquire BankWest," a CBA statement to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) said yesterday.
The denial comes after CBA announced it would not be buying Australian and New Zealand units of ABN AMRO Holdings, or St George Bank, earlier this year.
Rumours of a BankWest sale arose after British banking giant Lloyds TSB agreed to buy HBOS for $27 billion on September 18.
After the purchase, Lloyds chief executive Eric Daniel said the bank will clearly look at disposal of non-core assets.
BankWest Financial Planning was established earlier this year, to complement the 160 retail branches it has planned for Australia's east coast over the next three years.
BankWest Financial Planning has 25 advisers and plans to recruit 100 overall by 2010, BankWest head of financial advice Lisa Livis told InvestorDaily in June.
