THE establishment by Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ) of a new Indochina subregion is "undoubtedly a positive" for its Cambodia subsidiary, ANZ Royal, CEO Stephen Higgins said Monday.

The subregion has been set up as part of a reshuffle across the bank's Asia Pacific, Europe and America Division after the acquisition this month of selected Asian assets from Royal Bank of Scotland for US$550 million.

Higgins said ANZ was the only bank with a "meaningful presence" across Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, and that it was therefore "natural" for the bank to bring its businesses under one umbrella.

"This provides ANZ with a unique advantage, particularly in terms of serving larger corporates," he said. "While there isn't likely to be much change on a day-to-day basis, it is undoubtedly a positive for the Cambodia business, as we will be better able to leverage off the considerable investment that ANZ is putting into Vietnam."

The CEO of the Indochina subregion will be Thuy Dam, who will continue in her current role as CEO in Vietnam.