State Bank of South Australia

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The State Bank of South Australia was a bank owned by the Government of South Australia. The bank was formed by the 1984 merger of two other public banks: the Savings Bank of South Australia and the State Bank of South Australia.

1992 State Bank Collapse

The bank's financial collapse in 1992 was one of the biggest events in the history of South Australia. The State Bank's deposits were legally underwritten by the Government of South Australia, putting South Australia into billions of dollars of debt. SA State Bank managing director Tim Marcus Clark ultimately took most legal responsibility for the Bank's downfall. Politically, it caused the resignation of premier John Bannon in 1992, and the crushing electoral defeat of the South Australian Labor government at the 1993 election.

The State Bank collapse has continued to affect South Australian finances and politics well into the next century. The State Bank debt was given as the main reason for the privatisation of ETSA by the Liberal government of John Olsen.

The remnants of the State Bank were acquired by Advance Bank which itself is now a division of St George Bank and trades in South Australia as the Bank of South Australia or BankSA.

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