Westpac has announced it will sell off its financial planning business and restructure its wealth and insurance arms.

About 900 full-time jobs are expected to be lost, as the bank struck a deal to sell off its financial planning arm to private owned Viridian Advisory.

Viridian is expected to offer 175 people a job when it acquires the business.

The changes are expected to be completed by June 30, as the second largest bank follows its rivals to get rid of financial planning groups after the royal commission revealed there were conflicts of interest in the industry.

Westpac CEO Brian Hartzer tells Ross Greenwood “it’s an industry that’s professionalising.”

“We’ll work with financial planners in the same way that today we work with accountants and lawyers.

“The number of customers who go to a financial planner for personal advice is relatively small in the scheme of things. It’s probably 20,000 to 30,000 customers we’re talking about here. “

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