International banker to replace retiring ANZ boss

An HSBC executive has been named the next head of ANZ, replacing Shayne Elliott, who will retire in July.

Nuno Matos, 57, was most recently the chief executive of wealth and personal banking at HSBC, based in Hong Kong.

A native of Portugal, Mr Matos has also worked in the US, the UK, Spain, France, Peru, Brazil and Mexico.

"We are very pleased an international banker of Nuno's calibre and extensive experience will be joining ANZ as our new chief executive to lead the execution of our strategy," ANZ chairman Paul O'Sullivan said.

He'll begin at ANZ on July 3, the bank announced on Monday.

The appointment was the culmination of long-term systemic work by the board on leadership succession, which included assessing multiple external and internal candidates, Mr O'Sullivan said.

The chairman noted that Mr Matos has led several bank transformations, which he said would be a significant benefit as ANZ prepares to migrate customers from Suncorp Bank across to ANZ Plus.

Mr O'Sullivan credited Mr Elliott, ANZ's chief executive for the past nine years, for leading the transformation that will be the cornerstone of ANZ's long-term success.

"Under Shayne's leadership, ANZ now has one of the world's leading institutional businesses, a new retail bank platform built on industry-leading technology and a culture focused on helping customers and communities thrive," he said.

Mr Matos will receive the same compensation package as Mr Elliott - fixed compensation of $2.5 million a year, plus the potential to earn up to another $7.9 million in short- and long-term bonuses.

Mr Matos said his initial focus would be to build the work underway at ANZ and ensure all its stakeholders get even better value from their relationship with the bank.

Early Monday afternoon, ANZ shares were down 3.0 per cent to $30.23, making it by far the worst performer of the big retail banks.