![Rick Ellis brings "many skills based on years of international experience" to his new position.](/content/dam/images/g/w/6/n/u/u/image.related.afrArticleLead.620x350.gw6nea.png/1495002761857.jpg)
Chartered Accountants ANZ has appointed a non-accountant as its new CEO but refused to reveal his salary despite pressure on professional bodies for more disclosure.
Former Telstra group executive Rick Ellis, a New Zealander and the CEO of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington, will take up the post in July and be based in Sydney.
He is not an accountant although his commerce degree majors were in economics and accounting.
Mr Ellis' salary was not disclosed despite the current CEO Lee White, an FCA (Fellow Chartered Accountant), revealing what he had been paid in the past two years on Tuesday.
Mr Ellis is being brought in to transform the 117,000-strong member organisation, chairman Murray Jack said.
"The profession is in a time of significant change. We've invested in our people and our digital assets, and are now looking to continue to transform what we do and how we do it so that we remain relevant as a profession, and as a member organisation. Rick brings many skills based on years of international experience to this task," Mr Jack said.
Mr Ellis has held previous senior positions in industry, including as a group executive in Telstra Media. He left Telstra in March 2014 amid a shakeup of the company which saw a dramatic shrinking of his portfolio. He was paid $2.2 million in 2012-13 and $1.5 million for the 2013-14 year to March, according to the 2014 Telstra annual report.
Mr White, who announced last month that he was stepping down, has led the organisation since 2012 and had overseen the merger of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants and Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia into Chartered Accountants ANZ. He also formed an alliance with the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA) during his time as CEO.
He had been chief accountant at the Australian Securities and Investments Commission before working at Chartered Accountants ANZ.
On Tuesday Mr White revealed he was paid between $800,000 and $850,000 in 2015-16, and between $750,000 and $800,000 in 2014-15. His 2015-16 pay included an 'at risk' performance bonus worth 28 per cent, or more than $200,000.
There is mounting pressure for better pay reporting of key executives at accounting and governance bodies with experts saying these types of associations have a special obligation to set a higher benchmark for disclosure.
The Tax Institute's CEO Noel Rowland has revealed his 2016 pay of $432,456, while accounting body CPA Australia continues to be under pressure from a group of members to reveal the pay of CEO Alex Malley and other key executives.
Other governance bodies, including the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) and the Governance Institute of Australia, also continue to refuse to break out the individual salaries of their CEOs.