David Hisco, ANZ chief executive, faced severe public scrutiny over the last week. Photo / File
Bank executive perks are in the spotlight following revelations that former ANZ New Zealand boss David Hisco spent company money on personal use of chauffeur-driven cars and storing wine.
The bank also bought Hisco a house in St Heliers for $7.5 million and then sold it to his wife Deborah Walsh for an amount that was lower than the market price.
But Hisco isn't alone in having perks paid for by his employer, as Tamsyn Parker discovered by digging into the murky world of non-cash benefits.
Some of New Zealand's bank bosses raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars in benefits last year on top of their multi-million-dollar salaries.
But in the case of one bank boss - ASB chief executive Vittoria Shortt - we may never know what she is paid as she is not considered key management by parent Commonwealth Bank, which means they don't legally have to report any details for her.
Hisco, who departed ANZ bank last week under a cloud over the expenses fiasco, had the biggest non-monetary benefits at $488,000 (A$464,599) in 2018 alone.
ANZ Group's annual report doesn't reveal any specifics for Hisco but says these benefits included car parking, taxation services, costs met by the company in relation to
relocation, and outplacement services - a fancy term for assistance provided to those who are made redundant.
A spokesman for ANZ declined to give further details on where the money was spent.
"We have made all disclosures over David's employment arrangements that we are legally obliged to.
"This remains an employment matter, and while we've been open about the circumstances of David's departure from ANZ, it isn't appropriate to discuss his personal employment arrangements in any further detail."
Sam Stubbs, chief executive of KiwiSaver provider Simplicity disagrees.
He has written to the bank on behalf of KiwiSaver investors who own shares in the ANZ demanding more information on where the money was spent.
Stubbs said the big four New Zealand banks purported to be independent of their Australian parents with a separate board and management structure and as such should report separately as well.
"I think there should be a standard reporting structure here. Bank directors' remuneration, CEO remuneration - it should all be disclosed."
The annual report for National Australia Bank, which owns the Bank of New Zealand, shows BNZ CEO Angela Mentis also had a large benefits package worth just under $406,000 in the year to September 2018, a massive jump on her 2017 benefit worth $86,000.
Australian Mentis moved to New Zealand in January 2018 to take up the new job from a top role at NAB.
A BNZ spokesman said the changes in Mentis' package between 2017 and 2018 related to her change in roles.
"Like many companies, we publish our executive remuneration packages to the market each year, and don't provide any further details than what has already been shared in the NAB financial report."
That report stated benefits include motor vehicle benefits, parking, relocation costs, travel for family members, gifts and other benefits.
And for international assignees, it may include provision of health fund benefit and personal tax advice.
John McGill, chief executive of Strategic pay - a remuneration specialist, said relocation packages for chief executives typically included one-off shifting costs plus paying for accommodation, an allowance for children's schooling and travel back to the home country once or twice a year.
"It just depends on the organisation's policies and what the individual has negotiated."
He said it was rare to include chauffeur-driven cars.
"Most executives want to drive themselves."
BNZ did confirm it was paying rent as part of Mentis' package as she had moved to New Zealand for the job. It has not bought a house for her to live in.
ASB bank also confirmed it paid rent for its new chief executive, returning Kiwi Vittoria Shortt, and her family for around 10 weeks when she first returned to New Zealand to start the job in February 2018 but had not bought property for her.
"Other than for that period, CBA/ASB did not and does not pay any of her rent."
Commonwealth Bank of Australia disclosed in its annual report that Shortt had a benefit of just over $10,000 in the year to June 30, 2018, for parking but that was only for the period from July 2017 to January 2018 prior to her taking on the job.
It does not have to report Shortt's remuneration or benefits in New Zealand under Australian stock exchange requirements.
Searches by the Herald show she has bought property here.
Property records show Victoria Shortt and husband Tony purchased a stunning 6.4ha property on the outskirts of Wanaka in late March.
They bought the four-bedroom home and lifestyle block for $5.75 million, according to sales records. The property was rated in July 2017 at $3.97m.
Westpac New Zealand also confirmed it had not bought property for its chief executive David McLean but had contributed to rent as part of his remuneration package.
"Before David was chief executive of Westpac NZ, he worked in New York for two years and during this time was paid an allowance by Westpac Group which subsidised his rent.
"When David relocated back to New Zealand in 2014 to take up the position of acting chief executive, Westpac NZ covered the cost of accommodation in Auckland for around three months until he could find permanent accommodation."
The spokesman said many companies take a similar approach when transferring a staff member to a role in a different location.
Figures from Westpac's annual report show McLean also received just under $59,000 in non-cash benefits last year - a jump on the previous year and more than double what its group chief executive got in benefits.
The spokesman said almost all of McLean's non-monetary benefits in 2018 consisted of tax advice and fringe benefit tax, with a small balance being executive health insurance.
"The tax advice (and associated fringe benefit tax) was part of the relocation cost that arose from David's time working for Westpac in New York, as a result of which he remained a US taxpayer for several years after returning, and that cost was not incurred by other executives at Westpac Group in 2018."
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