A leaked Australian head office memo announcing a senior executive pay freeze at the ANZ Bank applies equally to the bank's New Zealand operation, including the National Bank, ANZ New Zealand has confirmed.
The Sydney Morning Herald' reported the memo from group chief executive Michael Smith mean salaries for most of the company's 900 most highly paid people, a raise of no more than 1 per cent can be expected this year.
"We are taking action to position ANZ ahead of the curve by making decisions that demonstrate to our people, customers and shareholders that we are running our business in a responsible and sustainable way," the memo said, reflecting the increasing pressure on bank margins globally.
A New Zealand spokesperson told BusinessDesk there would still be room for wage rises and incentives for high-performing staff at lower levels in the business.
ANZ's New Zealand operation suffered the steepest fall of fee income to total assets during the year to September 2010, according to the 2011 KPMG Financial Institutions Performance Survey.
