This executive switch may have cost ANZ its next CEO
Suncorp Bank boss Clive van Horen has been poached to run Colonial First State. He was considered a potential future CEO of ANZ, and the move could speak volumes.
After two years under an executive chairman, Colonial First State (CFS) has poached Suncorp Bank boss Clive van Horen to be Group Chief Executive Officer, starting in January next year.
The appointment of the highly-regarded van Horen, who led a transformation of Suncorp Bank after joining from Commonwealth Bank, marks a new phase for CFS which under executive chair Rob Coombe underwent its own transformation.
But it is also a telling move in that van Horen’s departure comes soon after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) spiked ANZ’s $4.9 billion bid for Suncorp Bank.
That deal is now in orbit while ANZ and Suncorp appeal the decision to the Australian Competition Tribunal with no outcome expected until February or March. Van Horen was instrumental in the transaction and was also considered a potential ANZ CEO had the takeover gone ahead.
