Briefs: Bendigo completes Cyprus deal, Govt 'prescribes' Iran

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank notified the Australian Securities Exchange yesterday that it had obtained all the relevant regulatory approvals required to complete its acquisition of Bank of Cyprus Australia. Bank of Cyprus issued a statement with some (not many) details of its 2011 results. The bank said its net profit was 27 per cent higher than in 2010, customer account numbers were up 21 per cent and deposits were up 15 per cent.

The anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulator, Austrac, issued a notice yesterday that the Government has declared Iran a "prescribed foreign country". Banks and other AML/CTF reporting entities will have to apply enhanced customer due diligence to all transactions relating to Iran from now on.