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ANZ set to apologise to broker Angus Aitken over sexism claim


ANZ Bank is preparing to apologise to Angus Aitken and offer compensation for its role in an episode that cost the broker his job at Bell Potter and sparked a divisive debate about sexism in the industry.

Seeking to draw a line under an episode that has sparked international attention and allegations of bullying by Australia’s fourth-biggest bank, lawyers for ANZ and Aitken are discussing an apology for the bank suggesting his criticism of Michelle Jablko’s appointment as the bank’s chief financial officer might have been sexist.

The bank has also indicated its preparedness to consider a payment of “limited” damages to its adversary.

Paul Edwards, the head of corporate affairs at ANZ who posted the tweet accusing Aitken of sexism that ignited the legal battle two weeks ago, declined to comment. Aitken has hired defamation lawyer Mark O’Brien and briefed Bruce McClintock QC for potential legal action after he was sacked by Bell Potter last week in the aftermath of the email.

“I am determined to pursue all available legal remedies against those involved at ANZ for the loss of both my good reputation and career as a stockbroker,’’ Aitken said in a note sent to friends on Wednesday.

Yesterday Aitken left for a three-week holiday in Bali with his wife, Sarah, a former investment banker, and three children, and could not be contacted for comment.

He reached an amicable settlement on Wednesday with his former employer, Bell Potter, where he was head of institutional equities and one of the biggest business writers for the firm. The episode may end the broking career of one of the best known figures in the industry, renowned for his sharp calls on stocks and blunt, colourful language.

Despite widespread rejection of ANZ’s claims of “sexism’’ in his note about Ms Jablko, the episode has sparked a debate about gender bias in business and particularly in the male-dominated world of stockbroking.

But it has also overshadowed the appointment of Jablko as the most senior female executive in the Australian banking industry and cast fresh light on her role as adviser in one of the worst deals in recent Australian corporate history, Slater & Gordon’s $1.3 billion purchase of British firm Quindells.

Aitken labelled the hiring of Jablko for the role as “one of the dumber appointments I have seen”, arguing that “former investment bankers tend to be crap at most things in the listed world’’ and suggesting it was another reason not to own ANZ stock.

The note on Tuesday morning last week sparked a furious response from ANZ, which banks Bell Potter and whose rookie chief executive Shayne Elliott is said to be friends with the broker’s executive chairman and major shareholder Colin Bell.

The Weekend Australian has been told that Elliott rang Bell that same day to voice his displeasure at the commentary from Aitken. TS Lim, Bell’s analyst, had approved of the appointment and Elliott was due to meet a group of the firm’s retail brokers last Friday to discuss his evolving makeover of the bank.

The call was made before the now infamous tweet by Edwards — “sexism alive + well in stockbroking?” — which appended the Aitken client note and sparked a social media brawl. As The Australian’s Margin Call column has reported, Aitken also sent out an apology less than 24 hours after his original note, and hours before Edward’s incendiary social media post.

“ANZ — apologies for my rant yesterday, was over the top. I am sure the new CFO will do a good job,’’ the email said in its subject line.

It was not enough to placate the bank, however, with Edwards’ tweet going out at lunchtime and getting a “like” from Elliott, in what could be seen as an endorsement of the sexism claim. A day later, Aitken was clearing out his desk.

ANZ is believed to have legal advice that Aitken’s email defamed both Jablko and Elliott; Jablko because she was said to be unqualified for the job, and Elliott because he made the “dumb” decision to hire her.

The bank, however, has no interest in pursuing a legal remedy against Aitken.

While the respective legal teams have been negotiating in Australia, directors and the ANZ executive committee have been in Hong Kong for a board meeting and client events.

Back in Australia, Jablko, who in late 2013 made the difficult decision to leave local investment banking giant UBS after almost 14 years to join the local outpost of US advisory boutique Greenhill, is understood to have been unperturbed by Aitken’s initial assessment of her appointment before the social media storm erupted.

Ironically, Aitken singled out former UBS boss Chris Mackay — who trained Jablko — as one of the few investment bankers to successfully transition to the corporate world.

Jablko, 43, and Aitken do not know each other, with the pair highly connected to their own corporate ponds of Melbourne and Sydney, respectively.

Still, Jablko’s role in advising Greenhill client Slater & Gordon over its disastrous acquisition of Quindell’s has drawn attention.

It is understood Greenhill was Slater & Gordon’s financial adviser in the transaction, used as the main sounding board and to keep investment banking adviser and funder Citi in check over fees and the split of equity and debt. Jablko was also instrumental in bringing Macquarie into the fold to work with Citi on the funding front, which included $890 million in new equity and the rest in bank debt.

Despite the acquisition being hailed as “transformational” by the law firm’s managing director Andrew Grech, the purchase ended in disaster, with $814.2m in writedowns less than a year after the deal was done.

The law firm won’t comment on Jablko’s involvement in the deal. Jablko has also declined to comment ahead of her start at ANZ.

But insiders say long-term Slater & Gordon boss Grech, who had overseen several acquisitions, was determined to do the deal and confident in the numbers following due diligence, including thousands of cases that were scrutinised by dozens of lawyers and an independent assessment from Ernst & Young.

Such was Grech’s and the board’s belief that the company confirmed full-year guidance from Slater’s existing operations, a decision that would ultimately prove painful.

While Quindell was known to have issues — New York outfit Gotham City had called it “a country club built on quicksand” — it was Slater & Gordon’s own sloppy systems and procedures that brought the acquisition undone, insiders say, as changed accounting methods slashed the value of cases held in the company’s receivables account.

After being so sure, the numbers that justified Grech’s and the board’s purchase all of a sudden did not add up.

It culminated in lender Westpac provisioning for some of its exposure in results last month, but rival NAB did not impair its own exposure after the lending syndicate provided a few more years for Slater to clean up the mess.

The finer details of Jablko’s advice — and that of Citi, Macquarie and other advisers — will never be known. But even with this clear blot on Jablko’s investment banking career, she is widely respected and viewed as a major loss for Greenhill after the boutique last year slipped into the red.

Her defenders also point out that no banker has a clean slate — a fact clearly not lost on Elliot — and say it is harsh to single out one banker, particularly when much of the grunt work on Quindell was said to be done by bankers on the ground in Britain.

Still, sources close to Jablko say she would not shy away from the fact the deal has soured.

Much like when she left UBS, Jablko left Greenhill on friendly terms with co-head Roger Feletto and global chief Scott Bok. On Thursday, her last day at Greenhill, she jetted up to Sydney from Melbourne for a farewell party at The Winery in trendy Surry Hills before a family holiday.

But the leisure time will be short as Jablko buries her head in ANZ accounts and reports to get up to speed ahead of her July 18 start, when she will be confronted by several complex asset sales and an increasingly difficult operating environment as the credit cycle turns and Asia slows.

Her slightly left field appointment as CFO of a major regional bank continued Mr Elliott’s apparent campaign to increase the number of women on his senior leadership team, following the addition of former Google Australia boss Maile Carnegie. He also hired ex-McDonald’s Australia chief Catriona Noble to a senior role in ANZ’s retail banking unit.

The additions will reverse the under-representation of women on the bank’s senior team. One of Elliott’s earliest calls was the exit of wealth boss Joyce Phillips, as part of a review of her business division. Jablko’s arrival will add up to three on the senior management team, in line with Westpac and National Australia Bank but below leader CBA.

Additional reporting: Michael Bennet, Kylar Loussikian