2nd UPDATE: ANZ Taps Morschel As Next Chair; Eddington Walks
July 24 2009 - 4:07AM
Dow Jones News
Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. (ANZ.AU) said
Friday that John Morschel will take over as its chairman early next
year, after previously anointed chairman Rod Eddington withdrew his
acceptance of the role amid investor disquiet over his role at
collapsed asset manager Allco Finance Group.
In a statement, ANZ Bank said Morschel, who has been on the
lender's board since October 2004, will take over the chairman's
role from Charles Goode in February.
The bank didn't give reasons for Eddington's decision to walk
away from the position. An ANZ spokeswoman declined further
comment.
Eddington's role as an independent director at failed Allco
concerned some investors and could have hampered a smooth
changeover between Goode and Eddington.
"I understand that various investors had expressed their concern
to representatives of the bank, and that was taken note of. Allco
was the key point there," said Constellation Capital head of
research Peter Vann.
"Any director, particularly a chairman, of a bank has to have a
pretty good track record," Vann said. "Unfortunately, Allco has
blemished that somewhat for Eddington."
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is
investigating the collapse of Allco, which was put into voluntary
administration in November 2008 last year with high levels of debt
after coming unstuck as the global credit crunch took hold. It had
been trying to sell assets to repay debt.
ANZ Bank first flagged Eddington's appointment to the board and
as its chairman-designate in November last year. Eddington was to
have joined the board in the second half of this year and take up
chairman's role early next year.
Eddington's decision to withdraw his interest in the role at
ANZ, given ongoing uncertainty over the outcome of ASIC's
investigation into Allco's collapse, had been speculated by recent
Australian media reports.
"We respect his decision," Goode said of Eddington, a former
chief executive of British Airways, who also sits on boards
including miner Rio Tinto (RTP) and News Corp. (NWS). News Corp.
owns Dow Jones, publisher of this newswire.
There was a significant protest vote against the reelection of
Eddington to Rio Tinto's board at its April shareholder meeting in
Sydney after advisory group RiskMetrics said his directorship at
failed asset manager Allco was a reason to vote against him.
Eddington was nonetheless reelected to the board of Rio Tinto in
April. Since that time, Rio Tinto walked away from a US$19.5
billion deal which would have seen Aluminum Corp. of China (ACH),
or Chinalco, increase its stake in the miner to 18% from 9.3%.
Instead, Rio Tinto agreed to form an iron ore joint venture with
rival BHP Billiton (BHP), presumably adding significantly to
Eddington's board commitments at Rio Tinto.
Eddington, who remains well-regarded by many in the Australian
market, is also non-executive Chairman of JPMorgan Australia, and
also chairs Infrastructure Australia, a government body set up to
develop a blueprint for the future of the nation's transport,
water, energy and communications infrastructure.
Morschel, who has served as chairman of a number of high-profile
Australian companies, including Leighton Holdings Ltd. and CSR
Ltd., was unanimously supported by the ANZ board.
"I look forward to continuing to work with the excellent
management team led by (Chief Executive) Mike Smith in realizing
our vision to build a super regional bank," Morschel said in the
statement.
Morschel will oversee ANZ Bank's expansion into Asia. The bank
remains in talks to buy some of Royal Bank of Scotland's (RBS)
retail and commercial banking operations in Asia, and has built a
sizable war chest that could help fund further acquisitions in the
region.
Constellation Capital's Vann said Morschel has a solid
reputation among investors, and has solid experience in the
sector.
-By Lyndal McFarland, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-3-9292-2093;
lyndal.mcfarland@dowjones.com
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