(Bloomberg) -- ANZ Group Holdings Ltd. cut Chief Executive Officer Shayne Elliott’s bonus by nearly half after a series of scandals in the Australian lender’s markets division, with the veteran banker saying his tenure is getting “clearly closer to the end.”
Elliott’s bonus for fiscal year 2024 was cut by A$1.1 million ($731,500), in large part due to the missteps that rocked the bank earlier in the year. The board, which he also sits on, is planning for the possible conclusion of his nine-year stint at the helm, he said in an interview.
The next CEO needs to have a strong sense of social responsibility, according to Elliott, who’s not on a fixed contract. “You need somebody who’s adept and thoughtful about that social license more broadly,” Elliott said following full-year results on Friday. “I think that idea wasn’t always on the list.”
ANZ has been dogged by a series of controversies in its markets unit that include allegations over inappropriate workplace conduct. There are also separate ongoing reviews into trading practices that have led to investigations by The Australian Securities and Investments Commission and an independent audit to satisfy the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority.
Australia’s second-largest bank by assets has not committed to publicly releasing the results of those reviews, Elliott said, adding he would decide once the bank had the findings.
Traders Misbehaving for Years Make Clean-Up at ANZ a Tough Job
Executive bonuses have suffered as a result of the scandal, ANZ’s latest annual report shows. Elliott’s short-term variable remuneration almost halved to A$1.3 million from A$2.4 million the previous financial year. For Mark Whelan, the head of institutional banking, his payout was similarly slashed to A$595,000 from A$1.46 million.
Its full-year results also show the headwinds for the overall business. ANZ’s profits missed estimates amid intense competition in the mortgage market, and will have to contend with a lower interest rate environment.
Elliott first joined ANZ in 2009 to head the institutional division and the 61-year-old New Zealander was appointed chief financial officer in 2012. As CEO four years later, one of Elliott’s first key tasks was to guide the bank through a public inquiry into Australia’s financial sector. The aftermath of that saw bonuses scrapped for frontline staff at ANZ as the wide-ranging inquiry unearthed years of wrong doing in the industry.
The banking world is more “highly regulated, highly politicized” than it was more than decade ago, Elliott said. “In days gone by, it would’ve been lending, credit risk management. Those things are still really important but actually more and more it’s that social license side that matters,” he said, citing climate change, good customer outcomes, cybersecurity and scams among the priorities to tackle.
(Updates with details of earnings in seventh paragraph.)
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