“It’s been well reported [that] both the restrictions coming into the broader Russian financial system, to the banking system, through to the SWIFT payments network … as well as challenging some of Russia’s foreign reserves. Clearly, that has the impact that’s particularly been designed.”

The comments came as CBA sold down one of its last major investments in Asia, offloading a stake in the Chinese lender Bank of Hangzhou for $1.8 billion as it seeks to focus on Australia and New Zealand.

CBA on Tuesday said it had entered into a binding agreement to sell a 10 per cent stake in Bank of Hangzhou, and it would retain its remaining 5.57 per cent stake in the Chinese bank for at least another three years.

The sale represents one of the last key remaining steps in CBA’s gradual move to become more focused on domestic retail and commercial banking, a strategy that has also been adopted by its key rivals.

Mr Comyn used the speech in Melbourne to outline major shifts in the Australian economy – digitisation and decarbonisation – to make a pitch for CBA’s position as a leading small business banker.

“Businesses are very well-placed to embrace and benefit from Australia’s digital and decarbonisation transformation. That’s why we’re very focused on allocating capital to productive part of the economy … and directly helping businesses grow.”

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