An industry veteran with 33 years' experience is stepping down.

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group's chief risk officer, Nigel Williams, will retire at the end of March next year, completing a 33-year career in banking. The bank said it expects to name a successor early in 2018.

Williams joined ANZ following the 2004 acquisition of The National Bank of New Zealand. At ANZ he has held a number of leadership roles including MD for institutional, corporate and commercial banking in New Zealand, and MD for institutional business in Australia. Since 2011, Williams has been ANZ’s CRO and a member of the group executive committee.
Among other roles, Williams has been a director of ANZ Bank New Zealand Limited and Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank. 

“Over the past six years, Nigel has led the transformation of the risk function with a focus on data analytics, automated decision making and cyber security. He has also played a leading role in the resolution of a number of business and regulatory issues, and in significantly improving ANZ’s risk profile,” Shayne Elliott, group chief executive, said. 

Going forward, Williams intends to pursue a career as a non-executive director, ANZ said. 

During the most recent years of Williams' tenure, his bank has restructured, shedding business entities such as its Asian retail and wealth management businesses.