ANZ announces new chair of New Zealand banking operation
Former New Zealand PM John Key is leaving ANZ Bank’s board and will be replaced by Scott St John.
ANZ has announced a shake-up of its New Zealand Bank, with former prime minister Sir John Key to resign as chair and be replaced by the former boss of First NZ Capital, now known as investment bank Jarden.
In a market update on Tuesday, ANZ confirmed Sir John, who was prime minister of New Zealand for eight years, would leave all bank boards on March 14.
Sir John, who joined ANZ’s board in February 2018, has sat as a member on the bank’s Ethics, Environment, Social and Governance Committee, Risk Committee, Digital Business and Technology Committee and Nomination and Board Operations Committee.
He also chairs ANZ Bank New Zealand, the country’s largest bank and a significant contributor to the banking group’s operations.
Sir John will be replaced by Scott St John as chair of ANZ Bank New Zealand.
Mr St John is already a director at ANZ Bank New Zealand, having taken a position on the bank’s board in 2021.
The former boss of First NZ Capital, now known as Jarden, holds a number of directorships but announced in December last year he would resign as director of milk processing group Fonterra from March 31.
He is expected to take on the chair role at ANZ Bank New Zealand from March 25
Mr St John also recently stepped into the role of chair of listed Kiwi energy operation Mercury NZ Limited.
ANZ chair Paul O’Sullivan said Sir John had made an enormous contribution to ANZ “with his unparalleled international business and political experience playing a critical role in our ongoing success”.
Mr O’Sullivan also paid tribute to Mr St John, noting he would be an “ideal replacement” for Sir John.
“He has served admirably on the ANZ New Zealand board since 2021, and we look forward to welcoming him to the Group Board next month,” Mr O’Sullivan said.
Sir John said he was “proud to have played my part in making ANZ a better company for our customers, shareholders and employees over the past six years”.
“While it’s the right time for me to step back on my commitments, I know ANZ is in a strong position and that Scott St John will be an outstanding Chair of ANZ New Zealand
and Director of ANZ Group,” he said.
The leadership transition comes as ANZ moves towards an expansion of its Australian banking operations, after securing sign off from the Australian Competition Tribunal for its $4.9bn bid for Suncorp Bank.
This will see ANZ leapfrog rival National Australia Bank in the retail market and comes as ANZ seeks to roll out a new digital banking platform across its Australian operations.
ANZ’s New Zealand operation sits among the most efficient operations in the group, with the bank noting in November it boasted a 16 per cent return on equity, topping out the institutional and Australian retail operations.
At ANZ’s first quarter results, the bank noted the New Zealand operations were sitting on $108bn in deposits.
ANZ Bank New Zealand has almost 1.7 million digitally active customers and sits among the lowest cost to income operations within the banking group.
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