Meanwhile, Maile Carnegie, former boss of the bank’s retail business who retired in July, has been denied a $4.4 million bonus.
Under her watch, ANZ’s retail division found itself under the microscope a number of times. There was a $40 million fine for the bank’s failure to pay bonus interest on certain online saver accounts and displaying inaccurate fees, and a $40 million fine for breaching its obligations in how it handled customer hardship.
ANZ agreed to pay a further $35 million in fines due to breaches in how it handled deceased estates. The corporate regulator said between 2019 and 2023, ANZ failed to refund fees charged to thousands of dead customers.
ANZ’s chief financial officer Farhan Faruqi, chief risk officer Kevin Korbally and group executive for institutional banking Mark Whelan all had their bonuses for the last financial year scratched.
Gerard Florian, who retired from his role as head of ANZ’s technology division in August, was similarly denied his $1.78 million bonus.
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While the executive pay purge was announced by the bank’s board, it feels like the appointment of Matos and his cultural overhaul would have played a major part in running the broom across ANZ.
Matos has already demonstrated this in plans to cut the workforce by 3500 and reduce contractors by 1000. He has taken a scorched earth approach to the business and shown a sense of robust confidence around restoring profit growth and improving non-financial risk.
He barely has his feet under the desk, so the underwhelming result that included a flat underlying profit and a 10 per cent decline in statutory earnings (which include one-off charges) is outside his control.
Rather, this is the Matos starting line, which will begin with a large cost-cutting exercise and followed by measures to improve revenue.
He talks a big game, despite the realities of operating in a highly competitive retail banking and business banking market. The $32 million in executive bonuses that have been cancelled is a handy way to contribute to cost savings and a handy way to signal that the bank has turned a cultural new leaf.
But Matos has his work cut out for him. Big announcements on remuneration and staff cuts are the stuff of headlines, but the real grind starts now.
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