A trading halt was called early yesterday morning by ANZ Banking Group, followed by an announcement that ANZ had agreed to sell five of its largest Asian retail and wealth businesses to Singapore's DBS Bank. A summary of the transaction - provided by ANZ, based on its financials as at 30 September 2016 - highlighted key facts and figures ahead of an analysts' briefing with chief executive officer Shayne Elliott and CFO Michelle Jablko, followed by a media call with Elliott and Mark Whelan, ANZ's group executive for institutional banking. The segments of the ANZ wealth management business being sold operate in Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Indonesia, and in total account for around A$17 billion in deposits, A$11 billion in gross loans and advances, and some A$7 billion in credit risk weighted assets. In 2016 the five retail businesses generated around $825 million in revenue and $50 million in profits.  Elliott conceded ANZ's Asian operations were profitable businesses, but said the sale was all about focus. "Without sufficient scale, over time, banking operations become uneconomic," he said."We can't do everything well, and we want to put our limited resources into our Australian and New Zealand retail commercial business and regional institutional business." "Having looked carefully at the business in recent months, it is clear the environment we face has changed and to make a real difference for our retail and wealth customers, we would need to make further investments in our Asian branch network and digital capability," Elliott said. "Further investments do not make sense for us given our competitive position and the returns available to ANZ." The transaction was also such that DBS was almost self-selected, as one of very few banks with a presence in all five jurisdictions up for grabs and with the appetite to take on the transaction and complete it relatively quickly, Elliott said in the media conference.  "We did a cost benefit analysis and decided it was better to get the transaction done quickly, and DBS was by far the most logical buyer." The sale to DBS, which is effectively five separate transactions, will take 18 months. "We still have to transfer assets and liabilities in five countries carefully [to DBS]," said Jablko. DBS will pay a premium of A$110 million over book value, which will be "mostly fixed" assuming current exchange rates hold. There is a small trail premium of around $5 million that is at risk, Jablko said. "We're hoping it'll be faster, but have in place a prudent timetable". She noted that ANZ would continue to hold the risk of running those retail businesses, but also receive the revenue until completion. "This transaction remains subject to regulatory approval and has no impact on ANZ's 2016 financial year results," Jablko said. She said ANZ expected the sale of its retail and wealth businesses in Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan and Indonesia to be completed during 2017 and early 2018. "As the sales occur the impact will be an improvement in CET1 ratios of 15 to 20 basis points and by around 30 basis points