ANZ's chief executive Shayne Elliott is ending his first year in the top job as the Grinch who stole Christmas after the bank's 20,000 Australian and New Zealand employees were told they will not be getting a $1000 share bonus this year.
The bonus ANZ stock "was intended to share the benefit of good years", Elliott said on Wednesday. "It was not a good year."
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Banks review staff bonus system
Plagued by scandals stemming from staff bonuses and commissions Australia's banks commission a review of their internal practices.
ANZ told CBD that the bonus usually applies to "good performers" with a minimum of three years service with the bank. It delivered $17 million worth of shares to employees last year, and more than $20 million the year before.
Bloomberg reported that an internal memo explained to staff that 2016 had been a "challenging year" and that in an
"environment of lower growth and lower returns, ANZ needs to reduce costs".
An ANZ spokesman emphasised that this is on top of other annual bonuses delivered by the bank.
For Elliott, this included the grant of 27,764 deferred shares this month as part of his compensation package.
It has been a challenging first year for Elliott who has been handed the task of dismantling the Asian empire built by his well-paid predecessor, Mike Smith, while dealing with a tough local environment.
This includes a growing pile of bad debt from the resource boom, and unwanted exposure in the ABC's Four Corners program which looked into the unexplained billion-dollar wealth of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.
The money was put into Najib's accounts at AmBank, ANZ's local affiliate. Elliott sat on AmBank's board as ANZ's representative before taking the CEO job this year.
There is no indication of wrongdoing by ANZ, but it isn't a good look.
The company also tripped up on the appointment of its new chief financial officer Michelle Jablko.
"Former investment bankers tend to be crap at most things in the listed world," Bell Potter's head of institutional trading, Angus Aitken, said in an email to clients after Jablko's appointment was announced.
One of the issues he raised was the role she played in advising Slater and Gordon on its disastrous Quindell acquisition.
What happened next is still the subject of a law suit that is due to play out next year, but Aitken is blaming ANZ for his sacking over the allegedly sexist note, and Elliott is expected to be among the ANZ executives who will have to front up – if the case is not settled before then.
Got a tip? ckruger@fairfaxmedia.com.au
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