Australia's ANZ Bank sheds 8 senior staff
Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. has fired eight senior executives and managers after a review of the bank's involvement in the multimillion dollar collapse of stockbroker Opes Prime, an official said on Friday.
By Agencies |
SYDNEY : Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. has fired eight senior executives and managers after a review of the bank's involvement in the multimillion dollar collapse of stockbroker Opes Prime, an official said on Friday.
A string of other employees face disciplinary action including having their pays reduced as a result of the internal review at Australia's fourth largest bank, Chief Executive Mike Smith said.
Melbourne-based ANZ was the chief secured creditor of Opes Prime, which collapsed in March after the bank called in a 650 mn Australian dollar (US$571 mn) loan during a credit crisis.
Hundreds of Opes Prime clients lost money and some are taking legal action against ANZ.
``The bottom line is we were in a business that we should never have entered into in the first place, and it was in a business environment where the risks weren't properly understood and weren't properly managed,'' Smith told reporters as he announced the eight departures.
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``I recognize the legacy of ANZ's involvement in equity finance may well be with the group for some time through legal claims, that we will continue to defend, and the impact of these issues to our reputation,'' he added. ANZ said in a statement that other key employees who had left the bank since the Opes Prime collapse would have also been fired if they had stayed.
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