Former NZ PM joins ANZ

Sir John, who served as prime minister of New Zealand from 2008 until 2016, will replace outgoing chairman John Judge when he steps down from the role in January 2018.

ANZ Group chairman David Gonski said Mr Judge had “overseen significant change” in his time as chairman of the bank’s New Zealand business and thanked him for his service, and welcomed the appointment of Sir John.

“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,” he said.

Prior to his involvement in politics, Sir John held a number of finance and banking-related roles including head of global foreign exchange at Merrill Lynch, and was made a member of the Foreign Exchange Committee of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.