ANZ has appointed Philip Chronican as chief executive officer for Australia, conferring upon him regional responsibility for the bank’s wealth management, commercial and retail businesses as from November.

Until July of this year Mr Chronican was group executive at Westpac Institutional Bank, holding responsibility for the global corporate and institutional banking business. His 27-year career at Westpac also includes having been chief financial officer from 2001 to 2005, along with holding several senior roles within the firm’s retail banking group.

Mr Chronican will succeed Graham Hodges, who has been ANZ's acting CEO for Australia since May this year. Mr Hodges will subsequently continue in his permanent full time role as ANZ’s deputy CEO, the bank said in a statement.

Based in Melbourne and reporting to ANZ’s CEO, Mike Smith, Mr Chronican will also become segment leader for ANZ’s retail businesses globally.

“He [Mr Chronican] is one of Australia’s most respected bankers and his experience makes him ideally suited to continuing the growth of the Australian business and to making a significant contribution to our super-regional strategy,” said Mr Smith.

“I also want to acknowledge Graham Hodges for his leadership of the Australia division in recent months, including leading last week’s acquisition of ING Group’s 51 per cent shareholding in the Australian and New Zealand wealth management and life insurance joint ventures. This provides a strong foundation for Phil and the Australia division team to continue to build on,” Mr Smith said.

ING’s sale of its equity stake in ING Australia and ING New Zealand, a deal which is expected to close in the last quarter of this year, will see the Dutch financial services group receive a €1.1 billion ($1.6 billion) cash payment. ING is spinning off some of its assets - such as its Asian private banking business - in a bid to raise further capital to bolster its depleted balance sheet. Along with other Western financial institutions, ING has been hit by the fallout from the credit crunch.

ING and ANZ merged their insurance and wealth management operations in Australia and New Zealand in 2002. The operations currently employ 2,200 staff in Australia and 500 in New Zealand.