Former Prime Minister joins major bank

ANZ announced today (18 October) that Mr Judge, currently the chair of ANZ New Zealand, will be retiring from its board of directors in January 2018.

He has been on the ANZ New Zealand Board since 22 December 2008 and has been chair since 23 June 2012.

Former New Zealand Prime Minister the Rt Hon Sir John Key has been appointed to the board of ANZ New Zealand from 18 October 2017 and will become its new chair in January 2018.

ANZ Group chair David Gonski paid tribute to Mr Judge.

“John Judge’s tenure has overseen significant change in the ANZ New Zealand business,” Mr Gonski said.

“The National Bank and ANZ brands and technology systems were successfully merged in 2012 and the business has grown significantly. ANZ New Zealand now has the biggest market share for home loans, deposits, credit cards and KiwiSaver, and is leading the way with digital services.”

Mr Gonski also welcomed Sir John, saying: “Sir John Key’s strong international career in banking and his understanding of and contacts across the Asia-Pacific — where many Australian and New Zealand companies are increasingly trading — will add great value to the governance of ANZ.”

A graduate of the University of Canterbury, Sir John started his career in banking and finance in New Zealand before heading overseas, where he became head of global foreign exchange at Merrill Lynch. He was also made a member of the Foreign Exchange Committee of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Sir John was the Member of Parliament for Helensville from 2002 and Prime Minister of New Zealand from 2008 until 2016, when he announced that he would be retiring from politics.

He was made a Knight Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2017 Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Earlier this year, Sir John also received Australia’s highest honour, becoming a Companion of the Order of Australia for advancing the Australia-New Zealand bilateral relationship.

ANZ New Zealand’s other independent directors are Tony Carter, Mark Verbiest and Joan Withers. The executive directors on the board are ANZ New Zealand CEO and Group executive David Hisco, ANZ Group chief risk officer and Group executive Nigel Williams and ANZ Group CEO Shayne Elliott.

ANZ Group CFO Michelle Jablko is an alternate director for Mr Elliott.

[Related: ABA names new chair]