ANZ share price lower after announcing the retirement of Chairman David Gonski

The Australia and New Zealand Banking GrpLtd (ASX: ANZ) share price is out of form on Thursday and acting as a drag on the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).

At the time of writing the banking giant’s shares are down 1% to $18.38.

Why is the ANZ share price dropping lower?

As well as general weakness in the banking sector today, this morning ANZ announced the impending retirement of its chairman.

According to the release, David Gonski has decided to retire as ANZ’s chairman after being in the role for the last six and half years.

The bank has acted swiftly and has already found a successor. It revealed that Paul O’Sullivan will succeed David Gonski as its chairman following the finalisation of its full year results on 28 October 2020.

Who is ANZ’s new chairman?

Mr O’Sullivan is a very experienced executive. He is currently the chairman of Western Sydney Airport Corporation, Chairman of Optus, and a director of Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd (ASX: CCL).

In addition to this, he has previously held senior executive roles with Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel) and was the CEO of Optus between 2004 and 2012. He is also a director of the St George & Sutherland Medical Research Foundation, the National Disability Insurance Agency, and St Vincent’s Health Australia.

Mr O’Sullivan appears up for the challenge of improving ANZ’s operations and simplifying the business.

He commented: “My focus as Chairman will be to continue the work we have been doing over many years to improve our operations and simplify the bank to benefit not only the owners of our company but also our customers and our staff.”

“The banking industry is at an important inflection point as we do all we can to help the economy recover from the impacts of COVID-19 and ANZ will remain committed to that cause,” Mr O’Sullivan added.

“The right time to hand over the reins”.

Outgoing chairman, David Gonksi, explained the reasoning behind his exit.

Mr Gonski said: “I feel it’s the right time to hand over the reins. We have in place an experienced, diverse and talented management team as well as having made significant progress on our ambitions to simplify and improve our operations. Importantly, we have also taken steps to improve the governance around matters impacting our reputation, including the now well established EESG1 Board committee.”

“I’m delighted Paul has agreed to succeed me as Chairman. Paul is an outstanding director who has already made a strong contribution to ANZ and I’m confident he will do an excellent job leading the Board as we continue to work for the benefit of our shareholders,” Mr Gonski concluded.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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