Australian regulators did not want the Reserve Bank of New Zealand to take action on a subsidiary in New Zealand because this could hurt the value of the parent. The revelation was made by RBNZ governor Alan Bollard in his book, 'Crisis', which describes the events in the lead up to and during the global financial crisis.The reference in this case was likely to be to Westpac, because its NZ branch was found to be in breach of conditions of registration.Bollard describes how before the crisis the bank would argue with the RBNZ about "certain preparations" it had asked them to make. And when the situation was exacerbated by world events, Bollard personally flew with a colleague to Australia as they had an "uncompromising message to deliver."Bollard wrote that it was difficult for him to give blanket assurances despite understanding Australian concerns."Our own worry was that Australian law gives Australian creditors preference over New Zealand ones."Westpac's NZ branch breached a key condition of registration when its liabilities, net of amounts due to related parties, exceeded the NZ$15 billion limit in 2008.That limit is relevant because a number beyond that means the bank becomes "systematically important" to New Zealand and therefore can no longer operate as a branch.The RBNZ never took any direct action but has been working with Westpac to correct the breach through a process that will eventually led to transfer of assets and liabilities into the Westpac NZ incorporated bank. The implementation is expected to be completed by the end of 2011.