ANZ weighs ban on office-hours drinking after trader misbehaviour

ANZ is reviewing whether it should ban its staff from drinking alcohol during work hours. Photo / Alex Burton

One of Australia’s largest banks is reviewing whether it should ban its staff from drinking alcohol during work hours following incidents of bad behaviour on its Sydney trading floor.

ANZ has launched a review of its trading activities as it continues to deal with the fallout of a series of issues related to its culture and trading methods that it says has damaged its reputation.

The bank said three traders had left the bank in recent months, with another issued a formal warning, after being drunk in the office.

Chief executive Shayne Elliott told a parliamentary hearing the bank had instigated a review of its markets division, which also operates outside Australia, and it was considering a ban on drinking alcohol during work hours as part of an overhaul of its culture.

“That is on the table,” he said of a potential ban on office-hours drinking, not just for traders but also across the wider bank. No decision had been made, he said, but he felt the move would be reasonable as ANZ looked to restore its reputation.

There has been increased scrutiny of the drinking culture on trading floors and at bank events in recent years, giving rise to the notion the era of the “liquid lunch” had passed.

The London Metal Exchange banned drinking in 2019. That move came two years after Lloyd’s of London, the insurance market, banned its staff from drinking during office hours.

Elliott told MPs his bank had been slow to investigate internal complaints about a small number of its Sydney traders, but an investigation had shown some were in breach of the company’s code of conduct.

He said staff had returned from lunch “intoxicated”, having consumed wine, and cited “profanity” being used on the trading floor. However, reports of bullying and drug use by its traders were “unsubstantiated”, he added.

The bank’s chief said it would continue to review its culture, with external legal advisers appointed as part of its internal review, and would consider whether there were broader failings in the management of its markets division.

“I assure you that there will be consequences,” said Elliott. He anticipates executive pay will be hit this year as a result of reputational damage.

ANZ’s markets division – representing about 200 of its 40,000 staff – has been in the spotlight, with Australia’s corporate regulator opening an investigation into potential pricing manipulation related to a government bond sale. The bank has also admitted to providing inaccurate trading information to Australia’s debt management office.

Elliott briefly grew agitated during the lengthy hearing, arguing separate issues had been conflated into a “grand story” and disputing it constituted a “scandal”.

However, he said, the bank was determined to complete a “drains-up review” to restore its reputation. “I am very, very disappointed,” he told lawmakers. “I am angry.”

Written by: Nic Fildes in Sydney.

© Financial Times