Banking chiefs come and go, some under a cloud
The appointment of Ross McEwan to the board of National Australia Bank follows a tradition of New Zealand executives taking top bank posts in Australia and vice versa.
An Australian banking royal commission saw heads roll and paved the way for McEwan at NAB.
Fallout from the recent shake-up of the Australian banking sector resulted in opportunities and casualties in both countries.
In New Zealand, the highest profile fall from grace was Australian David Hisco who quit ANZ New Zealand after revelations about his high lifestyle spending on wine, chauffeurs and houses.
Other Kiwis who have taken the executive reins at major banks in Australia include Sir Ralph Norris.
His first chief executive role was with ASB for 10 years from 1991, where he oversaw significant asset growth for the bank.
He moved on to take the lead role at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in 2005 and over the next six years the share price doubled under his tenure.
But his chairmanship of Fletcher Building proved a disappointing end to a long executive career when he resigned in early 2018 after the company revealed huge losses.
Ian Narev felled by scandals
Kiwi banker Ian Narev was educated at Cathedral Grammar and Auckland University before soaring to a high-flying job as chief executive of Commonwealth Bank of Australia in 2011.
Since 2007, he had a series of senior executive roles at CBA.
But it all came to an end in early 2018 following revelations of a money-laundering scandal that rocked the bank.
His remuneration was slashed from $12 million to $5.5m and he took early ‘‘retirement’’, and was recently reported to have taken a job as chief operating officer at job hunting firm Seek.
Andrew Thorburn leaves NAB after five years at the top
The Australian banking royal commission report resulted in Andrew Thorburn losing his job as chief executive at National Australia Bank (NAB), owner of Bank of New Zealand.
But Thorburn received an exit payment of more than A$1m (NZ$1.04m) plus leave entitlements.
The royal commission singled out Thorburn and NAB chairman Ken Henry over their leadership and said they had failed to appreciate the seriousness of shortcomings at the bank.
Thorburn, appointed in 2014, had been forced to apologise because the bank had charged millions of dollars in fees for services that were not provided.
Ross McEwan moves in at NAB
Ross McEwan has taken the chief executive job at NAB after Thorburn left. McEwan has formerly worked for Commonwealth Bank but for the past six years has been chief executive at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). McEwan resigned from RBS in April and then offered his experience in finance, insurance and investment to NAB.
His job at NAB will involve turning around the company culture and rebuilding confidence.
He has been credited with doing a good job at RBS.