Asian Cup robs ANZ of its logo at stadium

Fans at ANZ Stadium in Sydney watching the Socceroos defeat Oman.

ANZ’s jetsetting head teller, Mike Smith, loves Asia — but does Asia love him?

Futbol fans who flocked to Sydney’s ANZ Stadium on Tuesday night to witness Australia’s four-nil thumping of Oman in the Asian Cup did so in an ANZ stadium that lacked any sign of ANZ.

Every trace of the would-be Asian super-regional bank was blacked out, from the big letters over the door to the incy wincy branding on the eftpos machines — cruelly robbing the tens of thousands in the stadium and the millions more watching on TV the chance to catch a thrilling glimpse of the ANZ logo.

It’s a sad turn of events for a bank that loves to do business throughout the region — from Singapore, where its tower is taller than the one occupied by Smith’s old employer, HSBC, to Malaysian tax haven Labuan, where it is the only Australian bank with a local licence, to Cambodia, where it is, er, trying to get out of ANZ Royal, its joint venture with tycoon Kith Meng.

There doesn’t even appear to be a clash of sponsors — the closest thing to a bank bankrolling the Cup is Japan’s Credit Saison.

“The stadium was hired by AFC (Asian Football Confederation) as a clean stadium, which is common for when major international events come to town,” an ANZ spokeswoman told Margin Call.

AAMI is also feeling the pain: for the duration of the cup the ground it sponsors in Melbourne is known, accurately but unpoetically, as Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.

Globe under attack

THE world keeps turning for the directors of surfwear group Globe who have survived yet another of rag-trade billionaire Solomon Lew’s attempts to tip them out of the boardroom.

Lew, who owns 5.88 per cent of Globe, and other shareholders including investment banker David Williams of Kidder Williams, who holds 2.32 per cent, rolled Globe’s remuneration report for the fourth time in a row at the company’s AGM back in October. They were able to do this because directors Matt, Peter and Stephen Hill, who together control close to 70 per cent of the company, were barred from voting on the rem report. The result was Globe’s second spill meeting, held yesterday, where shareholders considered whether they should tip out the board.

Allowed to vote their own stock at the spill meeting, directors romped back in with more than 90 per cent in favour. And as Globe was keen to tell the ASX, just six out of its 745 shareholders voted against the incumbents. But anyone who thinks Lew will give up and walk away has a short memory. He hung on for more than a decade as a minority shareholder in Country Road, niggling at majority holder Woolworths of South Africa before selling out at a premium when Woolworths bought David Jones.

BHP gig for Wood

MACQUARIE mining analyst Adrian Wood has escaped the (these days depleted) millionaires factory in favour of the Big Australian, taking on the head of investor relations gig at BHP Billiton.

He replaces another former Macquarie analyst, Brendan Harris, who is to become chief financial officer at BHP spin-off South32.

With the broking industry experiencing the same pressure from the internet that is beating up the media business, getting out seems to be quite the trend for analysts.

Merrill Lynch analyst Vicky Binns, who covered BHP, moved to the company in 2009. She’s now vice president of coal marketing.

And before he came to NAB in 2013, CFO Craig Drummond was boss of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and many years before that, a banking analyst at JBWere.

Speeding ticket

HARVEY Norman couldn’t explain its buoyant share price yesterday after getting a speeding ticket from the ASX.

And neither can Margin Call. But perhaps punters got it confused with boss Gerry Harvey’s other venture, annual Gold Coast horse sale Magic Millions? Last week it had its best year since the GFC.

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