How ANZ’s Executive Pay Cuts And CEO Lawsuit At ANZ Group Holdings (ASX:ANZ) Has Changed Its Investment Story

• In December 2025, ANZ Group Holdings disclosed that former CEO Shayne Elliott had commenced legal action in the NSW Supreme Court over reduced long-term variable remuneration for 2025 and 2026, following the Board’s decision that Australian-based Group Executives (excluding those in acting roles) would receive no short-term variable pay for the 2025 financial year.
• This dispute puts a spotlight on how ANZ’s Board is applying APRA’s CPS 511 rules to align executive pay with risk and performance, raising broader questions about governance, accountability, and talent retention at the bank.
• We’ll now examine how the Board’s decision to cut executive variable pay, and the resulting lawsuit, may influence ANZ’s investment narrative.

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ANZ Group Holdings Investment Narrative Recap

To own ANZ Group Holdings, you essentially need to believe in its ability to convert scale, digital investment and the Suncorp Bank acquisition into steady earnings and dividend capacity, despite regulatory and competitive pressure. The recent legal dispute over executive pay appears more relevant to governance perception and talent retention than to near term earnings catalysts, and at this stage does not appear to alter the key operational risks around technology execution and margin pressure in a material way.

The Board’s firm stance on remuneration, highlighted in the lawsuit, sits alongside ANZ’s continued capital returns, including the extension of its on market buyback to 7 May 2026 following A$1,174.82 million of repurchases. For investors, that pairing of strict risk aligned pay settings and ongoing capital management is being weighed against softer recent profit margins and the execution risk in large programs like ANZ Plus, Transactive and the Suncorp Bank integration, where any setbacks could...

Read the full narrative on ANZ Group Holdings (it's free!)

ANZ Group Holdings' narrative projects A$24.2 billion revenue and A$7.0 billion earnings by 2028. This requires 4.7% yearly revenue growth and about A$0.2 billion earnings increase from A$6.8 billion today.

Uncover how ANZ Group Holdings' forecasts yield a A$35.17 fair value, in line with its current price.

Exploring Other Perspectives

Six fair value estimates from the Simply Wall St Community span roughly A$25.40 to A$39.44, showing how far views on ANZ can stretch. You can weigh those against the execution risk in ANZ’s large scale digital and Suncorp programs, which could influence how effectively the bank translates its investments into future returns.

Explore 6 other fair value estimates on ANZ Group Holdings - why the stock might be worth 29% less than the current price!

Build Your Own ANZ Group Holdings Narrative

Disagree with existing narratives? Create your own in under 3 minutes - extraordinary investment returns rarely come from following the herd.

• A great starting point for your ANZ Group Holdings research is our analysis highlighting 2 key rewards and 1 important warning sign that could impact your investment decision.
• Our free ANZ Group Holdings research report provides a comprehensive fundamental analysis summarized in a single visual - the Snowflake - making it easy to evaluate ANZ Group Holdings' overall financial health at a glance.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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