Banning Alcohol at Australian Bank Would Be Difficult, CEO Says

(Bloomberg) — ANZ Group Holdings Ltd.’s Chief Executive Officer Shayne Elliott said an alcohol ban would be “difficult to implement” as the bank works to restore an embattled reputation following a series of scandals in its trading arm.

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While Australia’s fourth-largest lender hasn’t ruled out imposing such a policy after complaints of inebriated staff on the trading floor, it wouldn’t be easy to do so and maintain, Elliott told Bloomberg Television’s Haslinda Amin in an interview on Monday.

Elliott said he’s “not encouraging the use of alcohol,” but prohibiting it would be complicated by the fact that “most of our people are in the business of dealing with customers, are going to events and lunches and all sorts of things.”

The ANZ chief told lawmakers in a hearing in Canberra last month that the company’s board was re-examining workplace policies about alcohol use after disclosing that three people had left the bank following a number of allegations including at least one for drinking.

Elliott wasn’t clear on Monday if the policy proposed to change rules around consuming alcohol in the office or simply drinking during work hours. He said that a ban on drinking alcohol for staff on the trading floor was “a reasonable thing to do,” but stopped short of committing to adopt it as a bank-wide policy.

The Melbourne-based bank is attempting to move on from a trio of concurrent scandals that have emerged all from within its bond trading division this year. ANZ has taken action against staff relating to cultural and conduct issues and has also hired external legal counsel to investigate allegations that it overstated bond dealings to win business. It’s also facing a probe into its role in the sale of a government bond last year.

“These are pretty serious allegations and we’re working them through as a board,” Elliott said, adding the “buck stops with me” on the trading unit’s alleged missteps. He spoke in Singapore, where the bank is celebrating 50 years of business.

Other highlights from the interview:

Singapore has become the lender’s largest operation outside Australia with around 760 bankers and the firm expects more growth in China to support its major multinational clients who on the whole “are continuing to invest in China”
ANZ is planning no asset disposals from its A$4.9 billion ($3.4 billion) takeover of Suncorp Bank, Elliott said. “Everything this bank has, we want”
The CEO said India is “a massive growth opportunity for ANZ”
ANZ sees few great takeover opportunities left in traditional banking but expects to engage with fintech companies in Asia regarding potential add-on acquisitions, Elliott said

–With assistance from Anand Menon and Joanne Wong.

(Updates with other highlights from the interview.)