The Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price is slipping amid reports the bank has delayed the potential sale of its wealth management business.
BT Panorama, a wealth management platform, is said to be the next business segment on Westpac's chopping block. It's reported to be in focus after the bank sold its life insurance business last month.
Today, rumours emerged that its sale has been delayed following a technical glitch. However, Westpac has denied the sale's timeline has been impacted. The bank told the Motley Fool Australia it's taking steps to prepare the business for sale.
Right now, the Westpac share price is $25.78, 0.92% lower than its previous close.
That sets it up as the worst-performing of the four big banks today. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price is only just ahead of that of Westpac, having slipped 0.82%.
Meantime, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) shares have fallen just 0.09% and 0.05% respectively.
Let's take a closer look at today's news of Westpac.
Is this why the Westpac share price is slipping?
The Westpac share price is bringing up the rear of its big bank peers amid reports it's delayed the sale of its wealth management platform.
BT Panorama experienced technical difficulties in August, leaving users unable to access the platform for a week. Westpac has waived the platform's administrative fees for the week in which it faulted and the week following the outage.
Westpac stated it's currently focused on finding the right buyer for BT platforms, as well as 4 other businesses the bank plans to cull shortly.
Market watchers interested in the Westpac share price might want to keep an eye out for official news of the sale.
According to The Australian, Westpac will be looking to sell BT Panorama separately from the platform's superannuation business. The platform is said to be worth around $1 billion.
The newspaper reported Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) and IOOF Holdings Limited (ASX: IFL) might be among the potential buyers.
