Paul O’Sullivan to ‘simplify’ ANZ as chair

The former Optus boss will take over as ANZ chairman with a promise to simplify the bank, not only for investors but also for customers and staff.

Incoming ANZ Bank chairman Paul O'Sullivan in Sydney. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Bianca De Marchi

Of the eight signatures at the end of a fateful 2017 letter calling on then-Treasurer Scott Morrison to set up a banking royal commission, only the ANZ leadership duo of David Gonski and Shayne Elliott is still in place.

ANZ’s two-piece band — which will separate in late October after the bank confirmed a report in The Australian a month ago that Mr Gonski would hand over to Paul O’Sullivan — are either teflon-coated or have been doing something right.

Unsurprisingly, Mr Gonski, who did not appear at the royal commission, has no public regrets about his role in its creation or the misery and blackened reputations that followed.

“Overall, I think it was a worthwhile exercise,” he said.

“People should be given the opportunity to have their say, and they were, and the royal commission made us look at ourselves and focus on our shortcomings, and we all learnt from that.”

While Ian Narev already had one foot out the door at Commonwealth Bank courtesy of an Austrac statement of claim, National Australia Bank chair Ken Henry and CEO Andrew Thorburn were immediate casualties of the royal commission.

Westpac chairman Lindsay Maxsted and CEO Brian Hartzer survived but were cut down last November, again by an Austrac anti-money laundering case. Mr O’Sullivan, who was chief executive of Optus from 2004-12, has moved up to the chairman’s position at the nation’s second-ranked telecommunications group.

He is also chairman of Western Sydney Airport Corporation and a director of Coca-Cola Amatil, where Mr Gonski was once chairman.

After six-and-a-half years as ANZ chairman, Mr Gonski will hand over the baton at the end of an October 28 board meeting, during which the full-year result will be finalised ahead of its announcement the following day.

Mr O’Sullivan was unavailable for comment on Thursday.

However, he said in an ANZ statement that his focus as chairman would be to continue improving the operations and simplifying the bank, not only for investors but also for customers and staff. “The banking industry is at an important inflection point as we do all we can to help the economy recover from the impacts of COVID-19 and ANZ will remain committed to that cause,” he said.

It will also fall to Mr O’Sullivan to choose ANZ’s next CEO, with Mr Elliott almost in the veteran class at the end of this year when he will have clocked up five years of service.

The appointment of a non-banker as chairman of a major bank runs counter to one of the industry’s trends since the turmoil of the royal commission.

Career banker Phil Chronican got the nod at NAB, and Westpac lured former ANZ chief John McFarlane out of intended retirement.

If relevant experience counts, 59 year-old Mr O’Sullivan is not someone who immediately springs to mind, having only joined the ANZ board last November.

Mr Gonski insisted the board had made the right choice.

“In my opinion, Paul is the right person for where I see ANZ today,” he said.

“It was very motivating for our board to have someone like Paul, who is a seasoned CEO, and an absolute expert on information technology, platforms, distribution and regulatory demands, having come from the telecommunications industry. The other side of it is who the person is, and we have a real, very good and modest person who is also someone of great achievement.”

Mr Gonski penned a note to all ANZ staff on Thursday, saying his successor had already made a strong contribution to the board and he was looking forward to facilitating a smooth transition.

It was the right time, he said, for a handover.

“We have in place an experienced, diverse and talented management team, as well as having made significant progress on our ambitions to simplify and improve our operations,” the chairman said.

“Importantly, we have also taken steps to improve the governance around matters impacting our reputation, including the now well-established ethics, environment, social and governance board committee.”

Mr Gonski said the appointment as CEO of Mr Elliott, who took over from predecessor Mike Smith at the beginning of 2016, was the highlight of his tenure.

“I thought about it a lot at the time — Shayne was chief financial officer and I’d only worked with him briefly before we made the decision,” he said.

“For a chairman, the biggest job is to appoint and watch the CEO — any chairman who runs the company is not a chairman.

“But Shayne remains an excellent CEO and I have watched him establish an excellent management team.”

Mr Gonski, 66, remains a director of Sydney Airport.

Despite speculation that he is making a gradual withdrawal from public company life, he said he “definitely has no intention of retiring”.

“I don’t want to do that,” he said.

“It’s absolutely the right time to leave (ANZ), but that doesn’t mean I’m leaving the world behind.”