Thursday, 1 October 1992. Ten years to the day since Australia's oldest bank, the Bank of New South Wales, was reborn as Westpac Banking Corporation, a bank bullishly ready to take on the world. But the heady optimism of the eighties had given way to a nineties recession, and the bank had been battling to control the damage. Now, as the directors settled around the huge boardroom table, Westpac was in trouble - serious trouble. Announcement of a 1.66 billion dollar loss had rocked the Australian banking industry. The Westpac letters saga had left the bank's reputation in tatters. Shareholders were angry and calling for change.
It was a day of boardroom high drama. Five directors resigned, including the chairman. By the end of the year, two more had gone. So what went wrong?
The whole truth has never really come out - until now. This is a racy expose of Australia's most famous banking disaster. It's a story of corporate ambition and high finance, of big property deals and some bad loans. It's a story that had to be told, and it will keep you reading - to the bitter end.
