Westpac’s China reversal is another boomerang policy

Westpac’s decision to shut its operations in Hong Kong and China continues the steady ebb and flow of Australian banks in and out of Asia.

See also: ANZ, conducting a Standard Chartered-style buildout in Asia before deciding to quit everything except trade and institutional; CBA, the first Australian bank to open a Mumbai branch, to close it six years later; and NAB, which closed institutional offices in Singapore, Korea and Malaysia as well as a Japan securities company.