Elliott moves into top job at ANZ

ANZ Banking Group has announced to the ASX that Mike Smith will step down from the top job on December 31 and will be replaced by current chief financial officer Shayne Elliott. Originally from New Zealand, 51 year old Elliott has over thirty years' experience in international banking, including in Australia, New Zealand, Asia Pacific and the Middle East. He joined ANZ as CEO Institutional in June 2009 and for the past three years has held the role of chief financial officer.

ANZ Chair, David Gonski, said Elliott was selected to take the helm after a detailed review of both internal and external candidates.

"Shayne was the outstanding candidate for the role of chief executive given his deep knowledge of the ANZ Group, his strategic vision, global financial services experience and his track record of building and leading strong international management teams," he said.

Current CEO, Mike Smith will be retained as a non-executive advisor to the board, initially for one year.