[1] The subject land, on the east side of George Street opposite the original Barracks Square had been built upon from the early days of the colony.

Erected in 1904, the ANZ Bank was an early example in Australia of the influence of the American Romanesque style developed by Raht's countryman, Henry Hobson Richardson, from the 1870s onward.

After studying in Paris, Richardson had evolved his own simplified distillation of the Romanesque style and attracted numerous American disciples.

Raht also designed offices for the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States of America in Melbourne in 1892, using the same steel frame and thick stone walls (in this case granite).

Included amongst the distinctive features of the banking chamber were light fixtures attached to the lower portions of the columns in the centre of the pace, patterned interlocking rubber flooring and a narrow gallery at the eastern end of the building.

In 1947 minor alterations were carried out to the ground floor banking chamber and a couple of years later a partition was in the roof level lift lobby.

Ltd. On 26 August 1980 then several days later to the United Permanent Building Society, on 8 September 1980, who made application to the City of Sydney Council to have minor works carried out.

In October 1984 ownership passed to the Government Insurance Office, which then leased the mezzanine, ground floor and basement levels to the United Permanent Building Society for a period of four years.

Major elements of vertical circulation, including a steel stair and two early lifts, are located on the eastern side of the building.

The interior is lavishly decorated with extensive use of bronze, marble, cedar, fine wrought iron and gold leaf dominating the main banking chamber.

The trachyte supply, masonry and building contractor was Loveridge and Hudson who also built Raht's Societe Generale (former Equitable Life Assurance Society of America) at 348-352 George Street.

The two large basement levels extend five metres (sixteen feet) under Martin Place and are lit by deep wells on all three facades, with pavement lights.

Banks generally conformed to the basic language of Classical Architecture, designers distorted, exaggerated and simplified detailing and sometimes invented new forms.

Elements of the Victorian Mannerist style appeared in the form of dramatic shifts in scale and a sense of cleverness and an expression of the unusual.

The combination of these elements with the rusticated stonework that surrounds the window openings creates a rich physical and visual texture at street level.

[1] As at 16 October 2008, The building is historically significant because of its associations with the Bank of Australasia and the formation and consolidation of Martin Place in the wake of the construction of the General Post Office.

It also has significance because of its associations with the notable American architect Edward E. Raht, who is credited with introducing neo-Romanesque architecture to Australia which led to the Federation Warehouse style.

It features exceptionally fine stone detailing and rare wrought iron metal grilles protecting windows at ground level.