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Mutual banks Beyond Bank Australia (Beyond Bank) and Police & Nurses Limited (PNL) have concluded that the potential merger announced earlier this year will not proceed.
Following its due diligence, the PNL board determined that progressing with the merger “would not be in the best interests of its members”.
Beyond Bank and PNL signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in June 2024 in order to explore the opportunity of the two entities merging.
The due diligence process assessed the potential benefits of the merger for the collective 450,000 members under both organisations.
Should the banks have merged, the new entity would have created one of the country’s largest customer-owned banks, with total assets nearing $20 billion.
In a statement regarding the decision, PNL’s chair Gary Humphreys said: “The board had hoped that a merger recommendation would result from the due diligence process.
“While it’s disappointing that we will not be progressing this opportunity, our Due Diligence process was robust and I am confident that we have made the right decision.”
PNL followed with the statement that it “remains operationally strong and secure in its current state; however, size and scale remain important given the ongoing investments required in areas such as cyber security, fraud and financial crime”.
“We will therefore continue to pursue our strategic agenda to grow organically and through mergers while always acting in the best interests of our members,” it said.
On the decision, Beyond Bank said: “As one of Australia’s most trusted customer-owned banks, Beyond Bank said its customers will always be its highest priority and it is looking forward to continuing to provide financial wellbeing for them and their local communities.
“Beyond Bank remains a strong prosperous bank with an exciting strategy for the future.”
Beyond Bank informed that it is bound by confidentiality obligations in the MoU and will not be providing any further commentary on the matter.
Fraud allegations against CEO
A wrinkle in the potential merger plan was suggested by The Australian Financial Review (AFR), which reported that Beyond Bank’s would-be inaugural CEO and former RAMS CEO Jake Bromwich was released from his role with Westpac following an investigation of fraud allegations.
Reportedly, a staff had found this alleged evidence of fraud and criminal activity in a Western Sydney RAMS branch in 2022 and also alleged that Bromwich had bullied her following the discovery of the evidence.
Bromwich was stood down from his role with RAMS in March 2023 by Westpac, shortly before he was appointed as Beyond Bank’s new CEO that following May.
Westpac axed RAMs after it had not found a buyer for the business, informing that it would “further simplify” its business through its closure, which it announced on Tuesday, 6 August.
[RELATED: Beyond Bank and P&N consider merging]
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