The Australian banking industry’s exodus from Asia continues apace. Beleaguered Commonwealth Bank of Australia is the latest to pull up the drawbridge.
Sydney-based Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has appointed advisers to sell its Indonesian life insurance business, Commonwealth Life, the bank said in a statement on its website.
The decision comes as CBA battles its way through a massive anti-money laundering probe which has already cost its CEO, Ian Narev, as well as several senior executives their jobs.
The move is part of a trend amongst Australia’s largest lenders to focus on core business in Australia and New Zealand. CBA is also slimming down in insurance: the bank sold its Australian and New Zealand life insurance businesses to AIA Group for $3.8 billion last year.
In similar moves, ANZ and National Australia Bank have also disposed of Asian and private banking businesses over the past two years.
