Most powerful banking head in NZ, ANZ boss Antonia Watson, to step down at the end of 2026

Friday, 12 June 2026

Chief executive of the ANZ Bank Group, Antonia Watson, has said she will be retiring at the end of this year.

Watson, who has been at ANZ NZ since 2009 and its chief executive since 2019, will finish on September 30.

Watson has headed up a time where the bank’s returns have hit record highs.

Her tenure has also seen a Commerce Commission Market Study decide New Zealand’s banking sector - of which ANZ is the largest player - is a 'stable oligopoly' that lacks genuine, aggressive competition.

A parliamentary enquiry concluded in 2025 found that the country’s 'Big Four' banks generated excessive profits compared to international peers due to a severe lack of competition, especially hurting the business, rural, and Māori sectors.

Watson will be replaced by the bank’s current chief risk officer Ben Kelleher.

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Kelleher has been chief risk officer for more than two years and before that he was managing director of personal banking for five years. He also led ANZ NZ’s private banking and strategy teams, and has worked in both New Zealand and the UK in strategy, analyst and project management roles.

Kelleher’s appointment is subject to clearing Reserve Bank of New Zealand non-objection and other regulatory hurdles.

Watson landed the role in 2019 after becoming the bank’s acting chief executive following the departure of former chief executive David Hisco who left the company after an internal review of his expenses.

Watson was the bank’s chief financial officer at the time, and first came to wider public attention when she flanked ANZ NZ’s chair John Key at a media conference explaining Hisco’s departure.

At a press conference at the time, ANZ chairman Sir John Key said the issue with Hisco’s expenses was linked to the use of chauffeur-driven cars and wine storage.

The bank responded then: “While Mr Hisco does not accept all of the concerns raised by the board, he accepts accountability given his leadership position and agrees the characterisation of the expenses falls short of the standards required.”

Watson at the time said it was a day of shock and disappointment, saying Hisco was a well-liked leader.

Under Watson’s leadership, ANZ was the country’s most profitable bank based on return on equity, according to data from the Reserve Bank.

And its profits rose to hit new highs, which caused it to become an especial target for anti-monopolist Tex Edwards who objected to the bank’s “alpha profits” as he pushed for banking sector reforms.

In the bank’s 2019/20 financial year, ANZ New Zealand’s statutory profit was $1.37 billion, but it had risen to $2.53b in the 2024/25 financial year.

Watson’s term was not without troubles.

The bank is currently appealing a loss in the High Court, where it was found to have broken lending laws that left it facing the possibility of having to repay around $125 million to around 17,000 home loan borrowers.

However, the errors that led to the lending law breaches came before her time as chief executive.

The Auckland-based Watson was well-paid for her work.

In the 2024/25 financial year her total remuneration was reported as A$2.5m (NZ$3m), including KiwiSaver employer contributions of just over A$60,000 (NZ$72,500).