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ANZ Appoints New Chairman
Australia’s third largest banking group ANZ appointed former British Airways Chief Executive Sir Rod Eddington to succeed current Chairman Charles Goode when he steps down from the position next year. Sir Rod is the non-executive Chairman of JP Morgan Australia and sits on the boards of some prestigious companies including Rio Tinto, News Corporation and John Swire & Sons.
Mr. Goode has decided not to seek a full term when he faces re-election at next month’s annual meeting. Mr. Goode, who has served as Chairman of the Australian banking major for the last 13 years, has been both credited for the exceptional growth of the lender due to prescient decisions made when it came to hiring chief executives during that period.
Mr. Goode has also been blamed for the reputational damage ANZ has suffered since the start of the credit crisis. The Chairman presided over the bank during a period of flux, such as the collapse of stock broker Opes Prime, to whom ANZ, had significant exposure, ANZ also had probably the most exposure to toxic debt products in its short term investment portfolio. The bank at the start of September had to go cap in hand to investors to raise over A$1 billion in capital and is more than likely to have to do so again in the very near future in order to strengthen its balance sheet.
The Opes Prime collapse led to an internal review of ANZ’s risk management and compliance processes led by CEO Mike Smith and it was found that ANZ’s risk management and compliance were found to be totally inadequate, suggesting that management was incompetent.
In a statement, Mr Goode said: “It is particularly pleasing to have someone of Sir Rod’s calibre join the board and succeed me. His experience and success in Australia and internationally, including extensive experience in Asia, will be a significant asset for ANZ.”
Sir Rod an Australian native will have to reduce the number of non-executive positions he currently holds to make room for the ANZ Chairmanship. Sir Rod’s most notable position was obviously Chief Executive of British Airways, whom he led through crisis, returning it to profitability. Sir Rod has had a distinguished career, coming up through the ranks of the Swire Group eventually becoming Cathay Pacific CEO, before being poached to run Ansett Australia, and then finally BA.
Sir Rod was one of three independent directories of troubled Australian asset manager Allco Finance and approved the ill fated acquisition of Rubicon, a real estate funds group which precipitated the collapse in Allco’s share price. The capitulation in the stock price triggered a market capitalization clause in the company’s debt covenants. Allco was ultimately forced to enter into receivership at the beginning of November.
Sir Rod’s appointment is part of a complete transformation of the ANZ board which is largely designed to give it more credibility. Former Qantas Chairperson Margaret Jackson will leave along with Mr. Goode next years, whilst the board adds four new directors.
Perhaps the most high profile new director is, Lee Hsien Yang, second son of the first Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Kwan Yew and the brother of the current Prime Minister of the island state. Mr Lee will be joining ANZ’s board as a director. Mr. Lee is a former Chief Executive of Singapore Telecommunications better known as SingTel. Mr. Lee is also currently non-executive Chairman of Singapore conglomerate Fraser and Neave.
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