It was in late January this year that tempers at ANZ started to fray. Tensions between the board and its 10-member executive had long been building, despite the united front put up by those at the top of the 197-year-old bank.

There was, after all, plenty of schmoozing to be done. While ANZ was no longer the marquee sponsor of the Australian Open, its corporate hospitality at the grand slam was still a key event, particularly after HSBC banker Nuno Matos, a largely unknown local quantity, was named chief executive.