John Morschel Becomes ANZ Bank Chairman

Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. said John Morschel will succeed Charles Goode as chairman after Rod Eddington withdrew from consideration.

Morschel, a former managing director at Lend Lease Corp. and director of Westpac Banking Corp., will take over in February 2010, Australia’s fourth-biggest bank said in a statement to the stock exchange. Eddington had informed the board that he wanted to withdraw his offer to succeed Goode, the release said.

Morschel will oversee ANZ Chief Executive Officer Michael Smith’s expansion in Asia as swelling bad loans at home squeeze profit. Smith, who previously headed HSBC Holdings Plc’s Asian division, is aiming to increase the proportion of income derived from the continent to 20 percent and is bidding for Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc’s Asian assets.

“I am delighted to have John Morschel succeed me as Chairman with the unanimous support of the Board,” Goode said in the statement. “I look forward to continuing to work with the excellent management team led by Mike Smith in realizing our vision to build a super regional bank.”

Morschel is currently a non-executive director of Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. and Tenix Pty Ltd. He was previously chairman of Rinker Group, Leighton Holdings Ltd., CSR Ltd. and Comalco Ltd., and a non-executive director of Rio Tinto Group. Eddington is a director of companies including Rio and News Corp. and a former chief executive officer of British Airways Plc.