In Brief: Oversea-Chinese, ANZ Ax Net Bank

MELBOURNE — Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. of Singapore said Monday that they had canceled their joint venture plans to develop an Internet bank in Asia.

Officials cited high development costs and a softer economic environment. The banks had worked on the project for six months.

Alex Au, chairman of the joint venture and vice chairman and chief executive officer of the Singapore bank, said he was pleased to have reached an “early understanding on the project’s viability before sizeable expenditures were incurred.”