A deal is also good news for rural New Zealand. Kiwibank rural lending likely to be more stable that that of the Aussie banks. The big Aussie banks have been fairweather friends, over-lending for dairy conversions when it looked good and cutting off credit when it doesn't. The rural sector is right to be angry, because many of these decisions are made in Sydney and Melbourne, far away from the reality of the farm gate.
Baird himself boasts a long history with the NAB, starting as a graduate in Sydney in 1989, before going on to head the bank's debt capital markets originations area in London. He also worked as a senior corporate banker for Deutsche Bank.
However, the Financial Review reported that Mr Baird had told acting CEO Phil Chronican that the timing was not right for him to spend the necessary time away from Sydney as the leader of Melbourne-based NAB.
The daughter of Greek immigrants who ran cafes and takeaways in Sydney, Mentis learnt customer service from the ground up.
Antonia joined ANZ from Morgan Stanley, where she was General Manager of their business services and technology centre in Budapest and held various Finance roles in Sydney and London. She qualified as a chartered accountant at KPMG.
Antonia is CEO of ANZ New Zealand. Prior to this she held roles as Managing Director of our Retail and Business Banking business and as Chief Financial Officer. In her most recent role as MD Retail and Business Banking, Antonia was responsible for our network of retail branches, contact centres and banking specialists who take care of over two million consumer and small business customers. Antonia joined ANZ from Morgan Stanley, where she was General Manager of their business services and technology centre in Budapest and had various Finance roles in Sydney and London. She started her career at KPMG.