CFO Shayne Elliott firms as man to replace Smith at ANZ

ANZ

ANZ Bank’s chief financial officer Shayne Elliott is said to be firming as the lead candidate to be named as the replacement for Mike Smith who is expected to step down as chief executive next year.

Mr Elliott has been widely speculated as one candidate to ­replace Mike Smith when he is expected to step down mid-next year, but an announcement on the final decision is expected to be made sooner than later.

Interestingly, Australian Securities Exchange managing ­director (and former ANZ banker) Elmer Funke Kupper, who had been speculated in some circles as a key candidate, had not been in final field.

For now though Mr Elliot, a former EFG Hermes and Citigroup banker, will have a task to oversee the sale of the bank’s Indonesia exposure. Indeed, attempts by the Australian lender to find a buyer for its 39 per cent stake in ­Indonesia’s Panin Bank through Goldman Sachs are proving challenging.

The stake is worth close to $800 million and Goldman’s ­attempts to offload the interest are happening as the Deutsche Bank-run sales ­process for ANZ’s $8.3 billion ­Esanda deal finance loans draws near to a close, with Macquarie widely expected to be the buyer.

Other ANZ Asian banking stakes in China, The Philippines and Malaysia are also thought to be difficult assets to divest.

Meanwhile, speculation remains surrounding the future of the company’s life insurance operations.

Apparently, the bank would quite like to sell the division, but embarking on a process for that part of the business would be time consuming and complex, and finding a buyer at the right price would be hard, given that the business would likely lack fire power with ANZ no longer behind it.

Interestingly, chairman David Gonski was also on the board of ING Australia, the company from which the business was purchased by ANZ back in 2009, so clearly he understands the finer details of the subsidiary.