The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) share price edged slightly higher on Wednesday as the bank announced a former prime minister of New Zealand will be the new chairman of its New Zealand board.
Chair of ANZ New Zealand, John Judge, will be retiring from its board of directors in January 2018, according to the bank.
He will be replaced by former New Zealand Prime Minister Sir John Key.
ANZ Group Chair David Gonski said John Judge, who began as NZ chair in 2012, has overseen significant change in the ANZ New Zealand business.
"The National Bank and ANZ brands and technology systems were successfully merged in 2012 and the business has grown significantly," Mr Gonski said.
"ANZ New Zealand now has the biggest market share for home loans, deposits, credit cards and KiwiSaver, and is leading the way with digital services."
Mr Gonski said Sir John's appointment fits well with the bank's future direction.
"Sir John Key's strong international career in banking and his understanding of and contacts across the Asia-Pacific, where many Australian and New Zealand companies are increasingly trading, will add great value to the governance of ANZ," Mr Gonski said.
Sir John, a graduate of the University of Canterbury, started his career in banking and finance in New Zealand before heading overseas where he became Head of Global Foreign Exchange with Merrill Lynch.
He was also made a member of the Foreign Exchange Committee of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Sir John was Prime Minister of New Zealand from 2008 until 2016.
ANZ New Zealand's other independent directors are Tony Carter, Mark Verbiest and Joan Withers. The executive directors on the Board are ANZ New Zealand CEO and Group Executive David Hisco, ANZ Group Chief Risk Officer and Group Executive Nigel Williams, and ANZ Group CEO Shayne Elliott. ANZ Group CFO Michelle Jablko is an alternate director for Mr Elliott.
The ANZ share price has been recovering since June when it dipped to $27.36 and closed Wednesday at $30.34.
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price was also up on Wednesday to close at $78.37 after gaining 0.15% on the day's trade.
The other big banks didn't do as well.
The Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price lost 0.48% to close at $33.26 and the National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB) share price shed 0.9% to close on Wednesday at $32.38.
