Westpac after Lloyds' Kiwi outfit

WESTPAC Bank has become the latest to declare its interest in bidding for Lloyds TSB's National Bank of New Zealand, filing an application with the country's competition watchdog.

Westpac joins fellow Aussie ANZ Group, which lodged a submission last week.

NBNZ, which is expected to fetch up to NZ$7bn (£2.6bn), is the only major Kiwi bank not owned by Australian banks.

Other potential suitors include HSBC, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and National Australia bank.

In its submission, ANZ said its bid would have no adverse effect on the 'highly competitive and dynamic' banking market.

It conceded that the combined market share of it and NBNZ would fall outside the commission's 'safe harbour' guidelines, but insisted competition would not be affected.

But that is unlikely to satisfy either the Commerce Commission, which deals with competition issues, or New Zealand's central bank Governor Alan Bollard, who has said he is concerned about the accumulation of bank ownership.