Nina Aguas, the managing director of the Asia-Pacific private banking arm of Australia & New Zealand Banking Group, has left to pursue other opportunities, this publication can exclusively reveal.

Aguas, who was based in Singapore and was responsible for the private banking franchise in the region, has left after three years at the bank. She joined ANZ in 2009 as managing director of the retail bank in Asia.

Prior to joining ANZ, Aguas spent 25 years at Citigroup in various senior positions including managing director and head of corporate centre compliance in New York and country business manager of the global consumer group in the Philippines, as well as regional head of audit and risk for Asia-Pacific.

It is not yet clear what her next role will be. Aguas could not be reached for comment.

"I can confirm Nina Aguas has resigned, and that her successor will be announced shortly," a spokesperson for ANZ said.

The news comes in the same week as Australia’s third largest bank confirmed 130 redundancies in its retail and commercial back-office, mainly in Melbourne. These are expected to be the first wave of more cuts to be made in the coming months, with a total of as many as 900 reported in local media. However, the Asia-Pacific business is unlikely to be affected.

"These changes reflect continued belt-tightening in the Australian business given the more subdued economic environment and the continued pressure funding costs are placing on margins. We expect that there may be further changes during 2012 but there are no other specific plans to announce at this stage," the spokesperson continued.

Source: WealthBriefing