ANZ agrees to peace deal with Angus Graham, as more markets trouble looms

ANZ has settled another long-running court case, agreeing to a deal with former head of money markets Angus Graham.

ANZ has settled a long-running battle with a former high profile banker, in a deal which clears another historical matter from chief executive Shayne Elliott’s legacy.

Court papers reveal ANZ concluded a peace deal with the bank’s former head of money markets, Angus Graham, who had taken aim over his treatment following him blowing the whistle on an alleged incident of sexual harassment, as well as several other regulatory matters.

Mr Graham, who filed court action against ANZ in March 2022, claimed he was denied a more senior role at the bank and excluded from meetings, before being made redundant, after making several complaints.

He sought to make claims against the bank under whistleblower protections.

ANZ confirmed it had settled Mr Graham’s matter, which was withdrawn last week.

A spokesman said the bank had agreed to make a contribution to “meet some of his legal costs”.

Mr Graham’s case, which was bankrolled by a litigation funder, was led by Levitt Robinson Solicitors.

“No money was paid to Mr Graham by ANZ as part of the settlement in relation to the allegations he made against ANZ,” an ANZ spokesman said.

“The settlement does not contain a confidentiality provision.”

The settlement comes after ANZ and Mr Graham reached a deal over mediation, which saw close involvement of the bank’s group general counsel Ken Adams.

The deal wraps up another historical matter which has dogged the bank over the conduct of its markets division, formerly led by Steve Belotti, which formed a key plank of ANZ’s institutional bank’s operations.

ANZ CEO Mr Elliott ran the institutional bank from 2009 to 2012.

ANZ’s institutional bank group executive Mark Whelan is in the running to replace Mr Elliott as the bank’s chief, who is closing in on eight years in the top job.

However, several matters continue to haunt ANZ, with the bank also facing litigation from former head of balance sheet Etienne Alexiou, who was sacked by the bank in 2015.

Mr Alexiou was stood down from ANZ in November 2014 amid a probe by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission into the bank’s rigging of the bank-bill swap rate.

ANZ paid a $50m settlement with ASIC in 2017 over the matter.

ANZ’s former head of balance sheet Etienne Alexiou in London. Picture: Ella Pellegrini

Mr Alexiou’s case has dragged through the courts after relaunching his claims against ANZ following an earlier tilt at the bank in the wake of his removal.

The matter is expected to go to trial in 2025, almost nine years after it was first filed.

However, Mr Alexiou’s case risks proving painful for ANZ, which has denied many of his claims, with the former trader alleging senior management at the bank knew about its rate rigging practices.

ANZ is again facing heat over its trading practices, after the Australian Office of Financial Management issued complaints to ASIC over trades of treasury bonds.

The bank was involved in placing a $14bn long-dated treasury bond in 2023, along with Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Deutsche Bank and National Australia Bank.

Sources close to ANZ warned this was the second time senior traders at ANZ had been reported to ASIC over their involvement in treasury bond trades.