(Reuters) – Australia and New Zealand Banking Group said on Thursday its shareholders voted to establish a new holding company to separate its banking and non-banking businesses into two different groups.
The move was initially announced in May, in an effort to prevent non-banking activities from affecting banking customers, a method several global banks have employed.
99.17% of votes were cast in favor of creating the non-operating holding company, ANZ Group Holdings Limited, which is expected to begin trading on the Australian and New Zealand exchanges from Jan. 4, 2023, ANZ said.
The new corporate structure will need a court approval before it is implemented, which the bank expects to come by Dec. 19, it added.
(Reporting by Harshita Swaminathan; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)