Westpac Banking Corp in conjunction with other lenders entered into a settlement agreement on its current dispute with liquidators of the Bell Group. The said conflict stems from the over AUD265 million or USD247 million worth of loans that have been recovered after the collapse of the telecommunications group.

As part of the settlement, liquidators were granted a AUD1.66 billion award which includes compounded interest up until 2009. One of the other provisions of the settlement includes a withdrawal of the fina appeal by the banks. According to a joint statement, other details aside from the mentioned provisions would be disclosed.

A consortium of banks, amongst them were the National Australia Bank Ltd, Standard Chartered Plc and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, obtained security over assets of the Bell Group back in 1990. This was one year before the telecommunications firm sought bankruptcy protection. In 1995, the liquidators filed suit claimign the banks had collude with directors in breach of their fiduciary duties in agreeing to put up the security with the banks when they knew that the company was already insolvent.

In a statement made today, bank spokesperson and lawyer for the consortium said, "Settling now is a pragmatic decision which will save further time and costs for all parties."