in 1988. In general, lending through those years was conservative and risk was tightly controlled. Lending against real estate in particular was capped at 30% of the loan book and spread by type and geography. The head office in Sydney at the time was devoid of luxuries, in a way reflecting in its environment the discipline applied to the business. One property position that did spiral away in that time though was the Kooralbyn resort development started by prominent businessmen Peter Abeles and Arthur George in 1975. They put up $2m and AGC put up $4m, but costs increased and after advancing $12m AGC took it over. AGC then spent yet more over subsequent years until finally exiting in 1987 for a loss of some $50m. The motto within AGC that "the first loss is the best loss" had been illustrated, but the experience didn't keep it out of much worse property forays like the Como development in later years. The 1990s and beyond In the late-1980s and early-1990s, AGC found itself in severe difficulties having deviated from the traditional conservative lending policies towards "big ticket" property development loans. The economy turned against these borrowers, leaving AGC, and many similar financiers, with very substantial impaired loans and a consequent serious funding crisis. Westpac, although suffering similar situations with defaulting loans, agreed to support AGC through the provision of substantial funding lines. The ensuing period from 1991 onwards saw a complete restructure of the management operations and policies including exit from most property lending, sale of offshore subsidiaries (excluding AGC New Zealand), and updated lending policies. These actions resulted in a strong return to the traditional "mainstream" profitable performance by the mid-1990s. History of Chief Executives * Indicates Westpac Officer Appointment Types of Finance Products Offered Personal Finance AGC CreditLine A retail finance card, which allowed the cardholder to make a purchase with extended interest-free and deferred payment options, allowing them to get what they want today, and pay it off before the promotion ends and not pay a cent in interest. The downside to this product for the consumer, is if they failed to repay the balance of a particular interest free plan, it would revert to a high interest rate. These cards could also be used through EFTPOS and ATM terminals, but these would automatically bear high interest. The card has since been superseded by GE CreditLine. Personal Line