Its current corporate entity was established on 1 October 1970, when the Australia and New Zealand Bank (ANZ) merged with the English, Scottish & Australian Bank (ES&A). It was the largest bank merger in Australian history at the time. The Australia and New Zealand Bank had in turn been founded in 1951 as a merger of the Bank of Australasia and the Union Bank of Australia, which were established in 1835 and 1837 respectively. ANZ is one of the Big Four Australian banks, along with the Commonwealth Bank, NAB and Westpac.
