ANZ’s $4.9 billion acquisition of Suncorp’s banking arm will be complete at month’s end following the merger receiving the last authorisation required.

Queensland’s Office of Parliamentary Counsel on Tuesday officially proclaimed legislative changes that passed parliament in June, paving the way for the merger to go ahead on July 31.

The transaction first announced in July 2022 was approved by federal treasurer Jim Chalmers on June 28 and by the Australian Competition Tribunal on February 20.

ANZ said on Tuesday it would welcome Suncorp bank’s roughly 3000 employees and 1.2 million customers into ANZ Group on August 1.

“This strategically important acquisition will boost ANZ’s presence in Queensland, add scale to our retail and commercial businesses and enable us to compete more effectively across the Australian market,” ANZ chief executive Shayne Elliott said.

In return for the legislative changes allowing the deal to go ahead, ANZ has agreed to hire or place 700 people into a new tech hub in Brisbane over the next five years.

– AAP